


Through the Fire and Flames

by hollowsong



Category: Minecraft (Video Game), Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Character Development, Clay | Dream-centric (Video Blogging RPF), Dream Smp, Enemies to Friends, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Enemies to Lovers, Fluff, Friendship, High Fantasy, How Do I Tag, Im new to ao3 help, Inspired by Dungeons & Dragons, Kinda, Light Angst, M/M, Moral Ambiguity, Plot, Realistic Minecraft, Slow Burn, Sort Of, ender dragon dream, enderman ranboo
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-04
Updated: 2021-03-08
Packaged: 2021-03-13 17:49:22
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 12
Words: 32,709
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28532451
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hollowsong/pseuds/hollowsong
Summary: (Title taken from Dragon Force song)-Dream wakes up one day as an Ender-Dragon, not remembering his past life. He befriends the enderman assigned to help him and together they escape to the Overworld.The duo meet an intriguing trio, they start off on the wrong foot but through curiosity and circumstance, they team up to fulfil a globe-scouring Quest.It doesn't take long before complications arise and they must really learn to work together.But two in particular learn to work together a little too well...-Updates on Mondays (usually)Also, Disclamer: I don't actually ship George and Dream, just their characters/personas. If Dream or George say they're uncomfortable with shipwork I'll take this down or remove the romance subplot.
Relationships: Clay | Dream & Floris | Fundy, Clay | Dream & GeorgeNotFound & Darryl Noveschosch & Sapnap, Clay | Dream & GeorgeNotFound & Sapnap (Video Blogging RPF), Clay | Dream & GeorgeNotFound (Video Blogging RPF), Clay | Dream & Ranboo, Clay | Dream & Sapnap (Video Blogging RPF), Clay | Dream/GeorgeNotFound (Video Blogging RPF), Eret & Niki | Nihachu & Toby Smith | Tubbo
Comments: 87
Kudos: 438





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Hiya! This is my first fic in a LONGASS time (like,,, a few years)  
> And it's also my first fic on Ao3  
> So it's probably not as good as it could be, but hey, thats what edits and rewrites are for, right?
> 
> I hope you all enjoy this high fantasy adventure I've been fleshing out in my head for weeks :)  
> 2.7k words

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dream gains conciousness and is very confused and scared.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is my first fic in a LONGASS time and my first fic on Ao3  
> So things might be a bit rusty and unpolished at the beggining  
> But hey, that's what rewrites and edits are for :)
> 
> Hope you enjoy this high fantasy adventure I've been fleshing out in my head

He remembers the first time he woke up.

He remembers being confused and slightly horrified at his long, blacked out arms and legs. He also remembers being confused as to why he felt _so deeply_ in his soul that his body was different, not the way it should be. When he had absolutely no memory of his it should be.

He remembers looking around frantically in a confused panic, shaking from the cold as it seeped in between his skin cells and settled into his bones. Did he even have bones? Did he even have _skin_ ? _What was he?_ He remembers thinking.

The ebony, endless void gave him no answers, neither did the ugly beige stone he was sitting on.

But the inky black scaley mass in front of him did. He remembers the amethyst eyes were much warmer back then. When he spoke, he gave him answers.

“ _Hello, Dream,_ ” he had said, “ _Welcome to The End. I am The Ender Dragon. I understand you must be confused, I’ll try my best to explain everything. You see-_ ” he motioned for him to stand up, and Dream did. Like a newborn fawn ( _what_ was _a fawn, anyway?_ ) he stood up on shaky legs, The Ender Dragon let him support himself against his scaly leg. The dragon gestured to the land surrounding them. When Dream looked around, he saw many, _many_ creatures like him. Tall, strangely proportioned sable creatures with mostly purple eyes, just like the dragon he was talking to. 

“ _You see, Dream. Although I am a dragon, and I live much longer than anyone here can possibly fathom,_ ” he remembers the pride in the others' voice. “ _My time here_ is _coming to an end. And I need a replacement for when I join my ancestors in the void,_ ” he stuck a wing out in the direction of said blackness. Dream felt sick just looking at it. “ _So I have chosen you to be my protege. You do not remember it, but you impressed me greatly before I turned you into a creature of my own image,_ ” his stomach now twists in a sickening way, remembering how his death was phrased by him. “ _Unfortunately, you greatly weakened me beforehand, so it will take a while until I finally muster up the strength to turn you into a fully fledged dragon. But in the meantime, I have an enderman who will show you around and explain things some more,_ ” and with that, the dragon took off. Spreading his wings and knocking Dream down, flying up to one of the giant jet black pillars and curling up on top.

He remembers being just as confused as when he first became conscious.

-

It turns out that the enderman supposed to show Dream the ropes was an end born one named Ranboo. He explained that while Dream used to be a thing called a human, who used to live in a different realm called the Overworld, Ranboo was born in the end and an enderman. As an end born he was powerful enough to traverse through the realms freely, while Dream was weaker by proxy and couldn’t.

Ranboo said that Humans sometimes came from the overworld to try to kill the Enderman and The Ender Dragon, and that the dragon was their protector. Dream remembers suddenly being overwhelmed with guilt, asking Ranboo if he had hurt anyone. 

The other had lowered his voice, as if sharing something not meant to be shared and said, “ _You nearly killed the dragon, you’re the first one to ever come that close. It’s why the dragon was so intrigued in you to the point to make you his prodigy,_ ”

Ranboo shared with him the existence of End Cities, promising Dream to take him to visit them sometimes. The young end born proved to be a fun companion, as while the dragon was resting, they played a game called Tag. Ranboo said he saw some human children playing it and thought it looked fun enough to try it.

He also taught him how to teleport. Not to the Overworld or long distance of anything. But Ranboo insisted that learning to teleport, even just a few blocks, would prove to everyone that Dream really was an Enderman now. And Dream would do _anything_ to stop the terrified or angry looks thrown his way whenever he appeared near a group of other endermen.

-

One thing he didn’t remember was The Ender Dragon turning him into a dragon as well. Ranboo says that’s probably a good thing, his agonising screams could apparently be heard hundreds of miles away in the nearest End City. 

All Dream knows is that The Ender Dragon took him up to one of the pillars and coaxed him into one of the crystals. The next thing he knew his ebony skin was replaced by iridescent black scales and he had two leathery wings attached to his shoulder blades. The older dragon kept Dream relegated to this pillar for a while, tasking Ranboo with bringing him chorus fruits and anything else he needed while they both regained their strength. 

During this time, Ranboo told him stories of the Overworld. He said it was beautiful. Colorful and warm. He told Dream of humans, how they lived together in warm houses and laughed and danced and sang together. He told Dream of rivers and oceans and lakes and ponds, how they were so pretty yet so deadly. He told Dream of the forests.

Dream pretended like he wasn’t hit with an unexplained pang of nostalgia and happiness at the word. He also pretended like he wasn’t overcome with a sudden overwhelming desire to see the Overworld.

Ranboo was different from other endermen. Unlike most of the others who had purple eyes, just like The Ender Dragon, Ranboo had one green and one red one. He says it's an endborn thing. Also, instead of purely inky black skin, half of him was a slightly lighter shade of black, more of a dark gray really. 

When both Dream and The Ender Dragon had regained their strength, the ancient dragon got right to teaching Dream the basics. How to fly was the first thing. It was difficult, and he fell straight off the pillar many, _many_ times. He accidentally injured a _lot_ of endermen in his falls. They had to usher the endermen to the edge of the floating island to prevent them from getting hurt.

But Dream eventually got it. And once he learned how to fly, he didn’t want to stop. He taught himself tricks. He learned how to do flips and barrel rolls and falcon dives, he had fun. But The Ender Dragon didn’t like that. He always told Dream to stop with the “childish foolishness” as he needed to portray dignity and leadership to the other Endermen.

Dream couldn’t care less about that. He was a dragon! They should respect him and his leadership regardless of what his personality was like. So he would often go behind the greater dragon's back with Ranboo and practice his flying skills.

After he and Ranboo deemed Dream a good enough flier to be able to go to one of the End Cities, they asked The Ender Dragon about it. 

Dream had never seen the other dragon so furious. 

Smoke curled out from the others snout, rising steadily into the void. The others pupils turned to slits as he bared his teeth and snarled. 

The Ender Dragon banished Ranboo to the Overworld for a whole year.

During that year, Dream was not allowed to leave the ancient dragons' side. But he did manage to sneak away from the dragon when he was sleeping. He would ask some of Ranboo’s endborn friends if they’d seen him in the Overworld. They rarely did.

During that year, the dragon worked Dream to the bone. He taught him how to turn into a regular-looking enderman. He taught him the _proper_ poise and flying formation. He taught him battle strategies to use against humans. He taught him how to tap into the crystal's power to heal himself. 

But most of all, The Ender Dragon taught him how to hate and bide time. Not on purpose, oh no. The dragon subconsciously taught Dream what hate was and how to hide it. He knew he hated the other. Ranboo was his only friend here, and the dragon had forced him away for practically no reason. Dream knew that he would escape the second he and Ranboo were reunited and had the chance. 

-

The year was a long one. But like all years, it did end.

Ranboo came back. As much as it pained Dream to the core, he kept a lot of his excitement and relief and anger to himself. He greeted Ranboo with the proper greeting the dragon had taught him. 

It did break his heart to see Ranboo’s face contort into confusion and hurt at the cold and formal greeting. But Dream knew to keep his cards to his chest after last time, he hoped that Ranboo would forgive him when their moment of opportunity came and they could flee.

You see, the dragon had actually taken him to an End City during that year. And while they were there, the other let him wander a bit. He saw a strange diamond shape in the sky, it looked almost like a rip or tear. After asking around, some helpful enderman told him that that was a portal to the Overworld, and that some End Cities had these, but not all.

He had everything planned out, he just needed to make sure that Ranboo was somewhere near him at all times, just in case an opportunity arose. 

Lucky for him, it seemed The Ender Dragon also wanted Ranboo closeby, as he was banned from leaving the sky island. 

He waited for months for the perfect opportunity. And it finally came.

-

A group of humans came to the end to try and kill The Ender Dragon. Dream was told to hide on top of one of the pillars and to just fly away if one of the humans got up to him. He pretended to oblige, flying up to the pillar with his crystal, he surveyed the fight below.

There were five humans, small little things, smaller than any endermen he’d ever seen. They were so colorful too. Their skins ranged across a bunch of warm shades. And they each wore a different color outfit. Reds, Greens, Blues, Browns. They were so pretty, Dream couldn’t help but gawk. He stared a bit longer than he should've, though.

He snapped out of his trance with a reignited passion for the Overworld when The Ender Dragon slammed his tail into the ground, creating a rift in the stone and sending chunks of ground flying out around him. 

Dream quickly scanned the ground for Ranboo, it took a while to single him out amongst the sea of endermen, but spot him he did. Dream took a deep breath to calm himself, closing his eyes and willing his body to transform into that of an enderman to avoid arousing suspicion. 

His wings folded up and melted into his back, his scales retracted, allowing for charcoal skin to feel the cold air for the first time in what felt like years. He was much smaller now, not that he was particularly big as a dragon either.

He smiled, and teleported down nearby Ranboo. He grabbed Ranboos arm and before the other could say anything he teleported them to the edge of the floating island. He hoped it was the edge he and the dragon had taken off in when they found the End City with a portal.

“ _Dream? What are you doing? You should be on the pillar!_ ”

Dream smiled, “ _We’re leaving Ranboo. Now’s our chance, I’ll explain everything on the way, just_ please _trust me, okay?_ ” 

Ranboo had hesitantly nodded. Dream awkwardly nodded back and transformed back into dragon form. Turning back into a dragon was always quite painful, but what could he do. 

He beckoned for Ranboo to climb onto his back like he used to when Dream was learning to fly better. Once Dream was sure the enderman was holding on tight, he dived down, far below the island, and just above the gravitational threshold of no return.

If he flew any lower, he’d be sucked into the void forever and die, if he flew any higher, The Ender Dragon was sure to spot him, and he didn’t want to even _think_ about what would happen to Ranboo this time. He had the strangest feeling of nostalgia and familiarity about this situation. Could it be that as a human he had or heard of an experience like this?

As they flew, Dream started talking. He told Ranboo everything. He told him about his plan to escape to the Overworld with him. He told him about the portal in the End City. He apologised for his cold greeting. And lastly, he made a promise. A promise to keep Ranboo safe and to start a better life for them, away from the End. 

Ranboo was quiet the whole time, sometimes making small sounds to confirm that he was listening, but he didn’t say anything. So Dream babbled to keep from the silence becoming too overbearing.

At some point, you hurt so much you become numb. At some point your muscles ache and hurt enough to stop aching and hurting. An uncomfortable numbness,

Dreams wings hurt, they ached, they _burned_. But he kept flying on. He had made that promise only a few hours ago. It was too early to break it.

He wondered if the battle with the humans was over. He wondered if The Ender Dragon had noticed his or Ranboo’s absence yet. 

He was snapped out of his wonderings when a sky island came into view. His heart soared at the familiarity of it. Suddenly, his wings stopped aching, and he carried himself and Ranboo up higher, looking around frantically for the portal.

He nearly cried when his eyes glanced over it, he flew faster than he ever had before, yelling out a quick warning to Ranboo before tumbling into the portal.

-

Dream woke up with a start, head snapping up and eyes frantically searching the surrounded area. It was so strange, so different. An unexplainably nice feeling settled into his scales. He hesitantly stretched out an ebony wing, relishing in the beautiful warmth he felt. He looked up at the sky.

A milky blue, lazy white fluffs smeared across the sky occasionally. A blindingly bright light shone above. His eyes watered as he stared at it.

“That’s the sun, Dream,” he heard a small voice say. He glanced at his side, in slight alarm. Only to see Ranboo, his friend, his brother, leaning against his side and looking at him with a small smile. “It keeps the Overworld warm and bright, don’t stare at it though, it’ll hurt you,”

Dream nodded, speechless. He looked around with glee. So many colors he had never seen before! The ground was warm, and _soft_ , nothing like the freezing cold stone or obsidian in the End. He felt like this was the most comfortable thing in all of existence. He watched as small yellow and black things buzzed by them. His jaw dropped. How were they floating? Why wasn’t he floating too?

The yellow and black balls stopped at some plants. They were colorful, pinks, reds, purples, blues. So beautiful. He hesitantly got up and approached the yellow and black creatures. One of them turned to him, staring at him with huge black eyes. Dream smiled.

He looked away from the creatures, letting them go about their business. He stretched out his wings and closed his eyes, tilting his head up to the sun and soaking in the foreign feeling of warmth.

Dream could stay here _forever_ . Right under the sun, feeling at peace and at _home_ for the first time ever.

“We’re never going back,” Dream said. 

Ranboo hummed in agreement. Dream felt Ranboo sit next to him to absorb the warmth too. 

Right then and there, Dream silently vowed to learn all he could about life on the Overworld. To explore the farthest reaches of the land.

And oh, would he see the farthest reaches of the land indeed. And oh, would he meet the most interesting people. 

And oh, would he go down in Overworld History.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did you like it? Critiques are very very VERY welcome! :)
> 
> Also; if my chapter layouts are accurate, then George and Dream will actually meet in Chapter 2 (technically chapter 3 since prologue is technically chapter 1 but whatever-)


	2. Chapter 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dream and Ranboo help out a human, and in return the human befriends them and helps them out. But not before some... complications.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Honestly, this is more of an Prologue Part 2, as it is still backstory. But the prologue would be WAY too long if i combined them so ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯
> 
> 3.5k words

Two years now, Dream and Ranboo had been exploring the world. It was beautiful, so many different colors, personalities, lives, experiences…

That’s not to say they didn’t struggle on their journey, oh no.

They started their journey with a sharp learning curve. You see, it turns out that humans don’t take too kindly to dragons suddenly appearing in their villages. A few angry mobs and burns and pitchforks later, Dream tried going into town as an enderman. And while the reception wasn’t  _ as _ aggressive as when he was in dragon form, the humans made it obvious that they didn’t care for endermen either.

For a while, he and his friend were stuck. They wanted to meet with humans, they ruled the Overworld after all and could give them some places to visit! But there was no way for them to say hello without a blood curdling screech from the human.

They searched for months, trying to find different ways to interact, but no human was ever interested. That is, until they came across a particular one.

-

Dream and Ranboo were out on a nightly flight. The cooler temperatures and the night sky reminded them of the End. Though neither of them wanted to return,  _ Gods _ no. But that didn’t stop them from being homesick from time to time.

Everything was as it normally was, they soared above a human village (Dream blended into the night sky quite well, so they could do so without attracting attention) and then over a forest. This time, they went farther, past the forest. They stumbled across a little swamp. Dream had never seen a swamp, so he shifted his wings into a gentle downward slope to get a better look.

It wasn’t the prettiest biome he had seen. The water looked dirty and slimy, the trees seemed rotting and the leaves were drooping, the ground itself seemed squishy. But there were some pretty flowers, bright blue. He carefully landed on a small island to get a closer look at the flowers. Ranboo stayed on his back to avoid any water. Endermen like Ranboo burned in the water, Dream was happy no such thing happened to him, the coral reefs he swam through last week were the most beautiful things he’s seen so far and it would’ve been a shame if he hadn’t gotten to.

The flowers, unlike the rest of the swamp, smelled nice. A calm, refreshing scent, compared to the scent of sulfur and decay the rest of the swamp was infected with. 

At the edge of his senses, he registered a yelp. He glanced up and around, but didn’t see anything. Ranboo didn’t seem to hear anything, so Dream assumed it was some fish (fish scream, right?).

He was about to lift off, a sudden scream faltered him, and he tripped into the mushy ground, mud flying up and uncomfortably sticking to his scales. Ranboo jumped up on his back, knocking the air out of Dream when he landed again. The dragon quickly stood up and frantically scanned the area the scream came from. 

There were a few dark shapes on the shore of the mainland; they didn’t seem to be looking at him, but battling with each other. Curious, he knew humans sometimes fought with each other over land, but why this land? He hesitantly lifted off and flew towards the shapes.

Once he got closer, he saw that only one of the shapes was actually a human. It was a young woman, she had mostly black hair, two strands of blond framing her face. She wore a black cloak and was wielding an iron sword. The rest of the shapes turned out to be zombies. While the woman was good with the sword, there were too many zombies for her. 

“Maybe if we help her she’ll talk to us?” Ranboo suggested. Dream took a sharp intake of breath. Yeah! That could work! He grinned at Ranboo, before diving down into the battle.

He pushed the zombies aside with his tail with a grand landing. The woman yelped and fell back when she saw him. One of the Zombies tried to use this to their advantage, Dream flicked them into the water. Ranboo jumped off his back, Dream noticed how he cringed. Right, the soil  _ was _ watery. 

While Dream was fending off the zombies, Ranboo teleported the woman away. The zombies looked around, disoriented and confused. Dream huffed, setting them on fire with a single breath. 

He looked up and around for Ranboo and the woman, he didn’t  _ see _ them, but he did  _ hear _ a pained yelp. And it didn’t come from the woman. A single wingbeat and he was up hundreds of feet in the air, scanning the ground for Ranboo and the woman.

He saw them on a treetop, the woman had a sword pointed at Ranboo, who was knocked onto his back and holding his side. 

Dream’s blood turned cold as he dove down, landing over his friend and growling at the woman. She blinked at him, fear filled her eyes but there was something else too, shock, confusion maybe?

“Are you two… friends?” she asked, Dream thought it was strange that she was talking to them. Most humans didn’t think he and Ranboo could understand them. 

Dream stilled for a moment, before nodding. The woman gasped, dropping the sword onto the leaves they were standing on and covered her mouth.

“Oh my- you’re  _ conscious _ !” Ah, so she  _ didn’t _ know. Dream almost smiled, did this young lady have a habit of talking to monsters?

It was quiet for a few heartbeats, as the woman studied him. “So… can you speak?”

“Yeah…” Dream’s voice was raspy. Yes, he had picked up English from the towns he surveyed, but whilst he could understand it well, speaking was a challenge. 

“Wow, that’s just-wow,” the woman breathed, eyes filled with wonder and amazement. “I didn’t know Mobs could speak? Can all of you speak? Does your friend speak at least? Is there a separate Mob language that humans don't know about? How did you learn English?” Dreams head spun trying to decipher all the questions.

He looked at the woman helplessly, hoping that would convey something.

She blinked, then blushed in embarrassment, “Oh! Sorry, I suppose you probably don’t know the language well…” she trailed off, glancing at the ground. There was an awkward silence for a minute. Ranboo got up, still clutching his side. The woman's eyes widened, “Wait, if you’re conscious… did you two help me on purpose?”

Dream and Ranboo nodded. The woman looked sad.

“Oh… and I hurt you as a repayment…” her voice got weaker, quieter. Dream and Ranboo glanced at each other before looking back at her. Yes, she did. Suddenly she clapped her hands, a faint smile on her face, “Well, the only thing to do now is to fix you up. Come with me, I’ll patch you up at my cottage,” and with that, the lady picked up her sword and sheathed it, before sliding down the tree.

The two End creatures looked at eachother. 

“Well, I  _ do _ need to get patched up…” Ranboo reasoned. Dream nodded.

“Yea… and she seems nice enough now. She’s even  _ talking _ to us!” he whispered excitedly. Ranboo smiled and climbed onto his back. Dream jumped down and landed next to the woman. She flinched, but smiled.

The walk to her “cottage” was a quiet one. Save for the woman's quiet humming. Dream had never heard anyone hum up close. He knew that humans did it often when they were bored or just needed something to do. He found it endearing, it was such a  _ human _ thing in his mind. 

Before long, the land beneath their feet solidified more. It still wasn’t as solid as regular grass, but it was much better than the mud before. A couple more minutes and a small stone cottage came into view.

There were a few fruit trees situated just outside, attached to their branches and bark were torches and hanging lanterns. The cottage itself was quite small. Made up of cobblestone and wooden planks. Dream was pretty sure the planks were spruce. There was a chimney at the side of the house, smoke billowing out from it. The smoke smelled of food, fish and potatoes. His stomach growled at the scent, remembering he hadn’t eaten since yesterday. The woman looked up at him, shocked, before dissolving into giggles.

“I’m not sure if we have enough food for a dragon, but I’ll see what we can do,” she nodded affirmatively to herself. 

“We?” Dream asked hesitantly.

The woman nodded, “Yes, I live with my two siblings, Eret and Tubbo,” it was quiet for a moment. Dream realized they were actually standing still in front of the cottage. He almost daydreamed off when the woman suddenly gasped, “Oh! Where are my manners?”

She turned to them with a sheepish smile, “I’m Niki! Do you two… have names?” she asked hesitantly.

“Yes, actually! I’m Ranboo and he’s my friend, Dream,” he had almost forgotten how fluent Ranboo was in English. He guessed it was from his year in exile.

Niki nodded with a smile, “That’s nice! Ranboo and Dream,” he mumbled the two names under her breath. Then she started looking between the cottage and Dream, uncertainty in her eyes. “I don’t think we can get you inside… do you mind being outside?” 

Dream perked up, Ranboo got the message and jumped off his back. He took a deep breath, relaxing his limbs. His wings melted into his back and his scales retracted. He transformed into his enderman form.

Niki looked shocked, and a little horrified, not that Dream could really blame her. Ranboo himself told him how weird and unsettling it looked. “Righ-Right. Well, uh… I suppose you can get inside now,” she nodded to herself, again starting to walk up the path to her cottage. 

Dream and Ranboo followed her, she opened the door. It was warm inside the house, and if Dream thought that outside smelled nice, inside it smelled  _ heavenly _ . Again, cooked fish and potatoes, but now he could also smell carrots and herbs and melons and sugar-  _ gods _ it smelled delicious. 

He noticed two humans inside, they were sitting on a carpet and laughing with each other. While both had brown hair, that’s where the similarities ended. The shorter one had small horns protruding from his head and had a generally young and kind look to him. The taller one had purely white eyes and a mature look to him. They both glanced up when the door opened.

The taller one pulled out an iron sword-enchanted-and leapt forward. “Niki! Two endermen behind you!” Ranboo jumped to hide behind Dream as he got into a defensive stance.

Niki put two hands up, “Eret! It’s fine! They’re friends!” the man halted, looking hesitant. 

Ranboo cleared his throat, “Uh… yea… we don’t mean any harm,”

The taller- _ Eret’s _ eyes widened, he looked between Niki and them with an emotion Dream couldn’t quite place. The air was thick with confusion, frustration, and fear.

“Niki, I know you have a reputation for being friendly with everyone, but really  _ everyone _ ?” the younger boy said, still on the carpet. The tension in the air dissipated as Niki and Eret laughed. She stepped inside and gestured for the two endermen to follow, they hesitantly did, Dream kept a steady gaze on Eret, who kept a steady gaze on him.

“Tubbo, Eret, these are Dream and Ranboo. They helped me out with some Zombies. Ranboo got… injured, so I brought them back here to help. Dream and Ranboo, my siblings Eret and Tubbo,” Niki explained. 

Tubbo, the one with horns, walked up to him and Ranboo. “I didn’t know enderman could talk?”

“Most of us can’t, Dream and I have been in the Overworld for a few months straight though and-” while Ranboo went on to tell Tubbo the story of how and why they got here, Dream looked around the cottage.

Where Eret and Tubbo had been sitting there were a few orange and yellow cushions, and the carpet looked very plush and nice to sit on. There was a fireplace inserted into the wall, where Dream guessed the smell of cooking fish and potatoes was coming from. In front of the fireplace was a low table, where Dream guessed the three siblings kneeled by to eat. 

The walls were a beautiful shade of warm green, Dream had long since realized that was his favorite color. There were paintings and pretty plates adorning the walls, as well as some carefully painted on vine and leaf patterns. There were a few bookshelves and plants in the corners of the small room. And little knick-knacks adorned any empty spaces on the shelves. There were two other doors besides the one they had entered through. Dream guessed they were bedrooms, he knew that humans didn’t usually sleep on floors, they preferred sleeping on beds.

His gaze landed back on Eret, and he quickly noticed that he was actually wearing a dress. He smiled, she looked really good in it. Well, it was less of a dress and more of a shirt and skirt combo. Their shirt was a very pretty white one with bishop’s sleeves and his skirt was a pretty shade of muted green. 

Eret stood awkwardly in the middle of the room, looking as their siblings talked or tended to Ranboo. Dream walked over to her and stood next to her. Eret looked at him with suspicious eyes, Dream put his hands up. The other sighed and looked away, seemingly relaxing a bit. 

Once Niki had patched Ranboo up and the latter had finished telling  _ The Great Tale of Dream and Ranboo _ , their hosts seated them down at the table. Everyone got some cooked fish and potatoes. They talked and laughed and joked. 

Dream fell quiet, letting himself drown out the noise of happy talking around him. He felt warm inside. This was… this was nice. Sharing food and being able to talk and laugh… He wanted to be able to experience this with others. To form friendships.

His heart sank. He knew that Niki, Tubbo, and Eret were outliers. They were the first humans ever to talk and befriend them. And even then, it was only because they had helped Niki. He knew that there wouldn’t be enough opportunities to save humans. And no guarantee that saving or helping them would earn their trust.

“Dream?” Eret’s voice cut through his thoughts, he looked up, “You’re frowning… what’s wrong?” The rest of the people at the table were also looking at him.

He sighed, “We can’t make many friends,” he pushed out, English foreign on his tongue. Ranboo sighed and nodded.

“You are the first people to give us a chance. No matter how hard we try we just can’t win the trust of others easily,” Ranboo elaborated.

The three humans hummed, the table dissolving into somber silence.

“Wait!” Tubbo gasped, standing up. He grinned excitedly. “Okay, so- you know how I have horns and Eret has those eyes?” he gestured at his head and Erets. The two endermen nodded, confused. “Well, those traits aren’t exactly normal amongst humans. But!” He struck a pose with one hand thrown out forward and the other on his hip, “Niki here,” he gestured at Niki, “Is somewhat of a witch. And she can cast illusion spells on us to give us eyes or get rid of our horns. So  _ my  _ idea,” he glanced at Niki, “Is that maybe Niki could do something similar for you?”

The table was quiet again, this time with hope and consideration.

“Maybe,” Niki started, “But getting rid or adding minor features is a lot easier to do than creating a  _ whole _ human form.” She hummed and stared at Dream and Ranboo, “But  _ maybe _ , with the help of Eret, I could enchant something that once you put on gives you human forms? It’ll take a while though…” she trailed off.

Dream and Ranboo grinned, “That sounds amazing! We’d be eternally grateful if you could do that!” Ranboo grinned, Dream nodded along. 

The three humans looked at each other with a smile, “Well, what are friends for?”

-

It had taken Niki and Eret a few months to make these coveted enchanted items. In the meantime, Dream and Ranboo helped out however they could. 

They helped out in the garden or with house repairs. Dream even fished or hunted. Eret and Niki taught them both how to fight with a sword. Ranboo and Dream in return taught them all three siblings a few words in the End language. Dream’s English improved significantly, and soon he was as fluent as the rest of them.

Finally, Niki and Eret finished. They ended up creating two bracelets, one green and the other black and white. The green one was Dream’s. And when he put it on he was transformed into a freckled human with dark blond hair. And while he generally looked like a human, the spell wasn’t nearly strong enough. His eyes were an unnaturally vibrant bright green like how they were when he was an enderman. And some black scales replaced freckles on his face. His face also generally still looked a bit monstrous. But it  _ was _ a step up.

Ranboo on the other hand, looked a lot more normal. He had fluffy brown hair and one hazel, one brown eye. He, along with Dream, still had very sharp teeth and they were both exceptionally tall. But while Ranboo could pass a simply unique looking human, Dream couldn’t really. 

There was a solution though. Tubbo surprised him one day with a mask. It was pure white and had a childishly drawn-on smiley face on it. Dream accepted it gratefully. 

Their human forms also came pre-packaged with outfits. Dream wore a green hoodie with a large belt and shoulder strap for weapons or extra storage. He had already ripped jeans and dark brown steel-toed boots. Hands were also covered by fingerless gloves. In all honesty, he looked cool as hell. The mask added to that, a whole other  _ mysterious _ look that Dream loved.

Ranboo had a white shirt, not too different from Eret’s, with a red tie. He also wore black pants and boots. Tubbo also made Ranboo a cute little crown. It wasn’t made out of real gold or jewelry, but the endermen knew that Tubbo had still spent a good amount of money on the supplies.

They started slowly tagging along with their human friends on trips to the nearby village. And while Dream got a few double takes and stares at him because of the mask, most people didn’t question it. And when they did, it was easily and geniously explained away by Niki; scarring.

Soon the two endermen in disguise made friends with some townsfolk. They liked it here.

They lived with Niki, Tubbo, and Eret for about a year, before Dream got an itch to explore the world once more. The three understood, and sent them off with some weapons, armor, and money. The two promised they’d visit, and set off on their way

They traveled for a long time, with some of the survival skills they learned during their time with the three siblings, they could easily feed themselves. Although they missed warm meals and beds soon enough, and started going into village and inns to stay nights. They also started taking up random odd jobs and quests in whatever village they were in.

They not only helped them in  _ their _ Quest of exploring the Overworld, but it helped them get money. Which they could spend on food or shelter. 

Most of the time though, Dream liked to spend extra on weapons. There was something  _ thrilling _ about a new dagger or sword. And it was also a little souvenir of whatever town they were in!

Ranboo did complain sometimes about the amount of storage room all these weapons took up, but Dream just waved him off. 

They started gaining a reputation as dependable and efficient “Adventurers for Hire”, and they started getting more and more quests, with higher and higher payouts.

They were living the dream, bouncing around, exploring, taking up whatever jobs they wanted.

They would sometimes camp out in the woods, or meadows, or wherever they were, and laugh and hum and sing and talk. They became much closer over their travels. Soon they knew each other practically inside out.

That little quirk became quite useful in battles. Being able to figure out what your partner was going to do without giving anything away to enemies has helped them win multiple difficult fights. 

Neither of them took the bracelets off often. And Dream had only once transformed into a dragon since he detransformed in front of Niki’s cottage those years ago. And that was because he and Ranboo were in a very sticky situation and needed to get out fast.

He didn’t like thinking about that night.

But everything was going smoothly. They took in the sights of the Overworld with glee, and met and  _ talked _ to people everywhere they went. It was a good life. And while Dream does miss the siblings from time to time. He knew that he loved being out in the world more. And that he would visit soon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We love Niki, Eret, and Tubbo in this house :)
> 
> Also! I'm thinking of POSSIBLY posting more often, from just Mondays to maybe Mondays and Thursdays? I'll try it out for this week, but I do still have school, so it is liable to change :)
> 
> Critiques welcome!
> 
> Hope you enjoyed


	3. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dream and Ranboo hang around town for a bit and they have some fun. But something happens when they return to their campsite, and a certain someone makes his long awaited appearance :)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  
> {CW}: violence; stabbings, arrows, daggers, threatening, etc. it isn't super graphic but read at your own risk.  
> !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
> 
> Other than that, most of the chapter is pretty chill :)  
> 2.7k words

Dream and Ranboo had been on the road for two weeks straight. They were traveling through a particularly dense and scary forest, so they had also been camping out without proper food or shelter for those weeks. They knew that soon they would bump into the city of Ochigac. It had a reputation for not being traveler friendly and having high crime rates, so unfortunately they knew it was better to camp out even when they reached it. 

The canopy of the treetops was thick, hardly any sunlight penetrated the leaves, and when it did it was an extremely concentrated and blinding beam of light. There were always mobs around; creepers, zombies, and skeletons being the most common. Dream and Ranboo decided to switch back to endermen form for the journey through the woods, otherwise it would be nonstop battles for their lives. Dream commended any human who could get through the woods, it seemed like such a hassle. 

He missed the sky, the trees around him felt suffocating. Never knowing what was around was also getting on his nerves. Always tense and on edge, despite Ranboos attempts at jokes to relax him. Every flicker of a shadow could be a mob about to attack them. Any snap in the thicket could be a skeleton getting ready to shoot an arrow. It was exhausting, despite logically _knowing_ that other mobs wouldn’t attack them, seeing them as one of their own; there were just too many close calls in the recent past that he couldn’t get out of his mind.

So when he noticed the canopy thinning and more and more beams of sunlight filtering in, he nearly passed out from relief. Ranboo urged him to keep going, so they did, this time with more pep in their step.

Soon they reached the edge of the forest and saw a dirt and stone road leading to what looked like a village in the distance. Ochigac. The endermen looked at eachother, realizing they were still in their enderman forms, and quickly put on their bracelets, seamlessly turning into humans. Dream had to dig around in his bag to retrieve his mask and secured it to his face.

They walked along the road for a bit, before deviating off the path and walking into a forest, birch this time. 

That was Dream’s favorite forest biome, actually. Birch forests were unlike any others; they were so bright and cheerful and open! Plus they tended to have very pretty flowers, which attracted bees and-

He blinked to focus himself. Ranboo had stopped and was looking at him expectantly. He stared blankly at the enderborn for a bit. Ranboo gestured around them.

Ah, he was asking if the little clearing was good to set up camp. 

The area around was really nice. Soft looking bright green grass, only a few stones and patches of dirt. Short and tall birch trees stood proudly as far as the eye could see, canopies _just_ thin enough to let down a steady stream of light but also just thick enough to block a lot of rain from the ground. Rose bushes, poppies, and dandelions dotted the ground here and there, and there were even a few bees buzzing nearby. 

Dream smiled and nodded, smoothly taking off his shoulder strap (which had a small bag filled with camping essentials) and started taking out the tent fabric and bed rolls. Ranboo did the same, setting up his tent and gathering some nearby rocks, placing them in a circle of what would soon be their campfire. 

Once they were both done setting up the camp, they started walking out of the forest and back towards the path, and by extension: Ochigac.

They still wanted to check the city out, maybe there were some fun quests for them to participate in! _Or a cool new dagger or sword_ , Dream thought with a hum.

Soon they neared the city. It was impressive. A huge stone wall separated the city from the outside world. It looked impenetrable, the only entrance was a huge iron-studded door that was guarded by two guards. Although, upon closer inspection, the guards weren’t actually _guarding_ . In fact, they hardly gave them a glance before letting them through. With security like _that_ it was no wonder the city was notorious for horrible crimes.

They made it inside the city and Dream couldn’t help but look around. All the buildings were giant. Tall stone towers, with laundry lines hanging out of the windows and random chimneys popping out the sides at random places. Did multiple people live in those towers? The regular looking houses were also huge though, Dream couldn’t see any buildings that were less than three stories tall. And the streets were a mess, not necessarily with trash, but people and animals moved how they pleased. Unlike in other cities, the roads seemed to mean nothing, as people and mounts alike walked them in a cacophony of chaos. 

Dream looked over at Ranboo, who gave him a _yikes_ expression. Dream smirked under the mask, nodding. He gently grabbed Ranboo’s wrist and started guiding them through the crowd, an Inn would be a nice place to start. Even if they weren’t planning on staying.

It took a lot of searching, and a lot of asking (the people here were exceptionally rude) but they eventually managed to find the local Inn.

They stepped inside and Dream nearly gagged. The scent of booze and salt was overwhelming. Ranboo was clutching his nose and mouth, giving Dream a panicked look. He sighed and nodded reluctantly, closing the door and walking away from the Inn.

Ranboo took a few exaggerated breaths, Dream wheezed at his friends' antics. Ranboo grinned up at him. “How about we stop by the markets? I was thinking of getting some more arrows?”

“I could use some more daggers” Dream responded cheerily. 

Ranboo huffed good-naturedly, “You and your daggers… you don’t even fight with them!”

The older shrugged, “Not yet!” he playfully booped the endborn on the nose. They both dissolved in a fit of giggles.

The rough cobblestone at their feet soon smoothed and polished out, and they found themselves in an honestly nice-looking plaza. Little stands from travelling merchants were set up in disorder all around. 

Dream and Ranboo walked around, peering into all of the stalls. One merchant was selling fish. Everything from cod to salmon to squid. Dream bought some ink sacs off the man, he found it fun to throw them at enemies. Another merchant was selling expensive fabrics. They were soft and colorful, yes, some even patterned! But neither Dream nor Ranboo had any use for them, they smiled apologetically at the merchant who simply waved them off.

They passed by a bulletin board, which had a bunch of WANTED posters pinned onto the wood. The two endermen in disguise looked at each poster, giggling at the strange people there. A pig hybrid? Who ever heard of such a thing!

They moved on from the posters and continued on their shopping spree. While Ranboo was leaning forward, looking at some apparently _very interesting_ arrows, Dream elbowed him in the side. Ranboo yelped and flinched, almost knocking over the nextdoor stand. 

Dream wheezed and slouched over, only straightening back up when Ranboo elbowed him back. They continued this little mini-war for a while, until the snappy merchant asked them if they were planning on buying anything or not. Ranboo floundered in embarrassment while Dream chuckled, picking out a few poison arrows before paying the man and moving on.

The merchant selling daggers seemed nice enough, and Dream easily struck up a conversation with her while inspecting the frankly _beautiful_ blade on sale:

“My friend and I are new in town, anywhere we should visit?”

The woman hummed, “My brother-in-law runs a bar called The Lonely Serpent, great ale and food for the little one,”

Ranboo and Dream gave good natured chuckles, “The Lonely Serpent? Interesting name…” he fiddled with the dagger. The blade was so _shiny_!

“Yeah, when he was younger he apparently had a snake that went missing, named it after it,” The handle of the dagger was so ornate. Tiny jewels embedded into the hilt and the ribbon tied around the grip was the perfect texture to hold.

“We’ll stop by, we’ll also be taking this dagger,”

The woman nodded as they paid for the dagger, quickly giving them some directions before turning to entice more people into buying.

Dream felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up, he looked around, but there were too many people around to know for sure if anyone was staring at him. He tightened the mask around his face just in case. Ranboo looked at him, concerned, Dream just shrugged.

“Off to The Lonely Serpent?” Ranboo asked, Dream grinned.

“Yep! No drinks for you though,” 

“Wasn’t planning on it.”

-

The Lonely Serpent was a quaint building. On the outskirts of the city, pressed against the giant stone wall. Inside was strangely quiet for an Inn. 

The two travelers pushed the door open and were greeted with a charming little restaraunt. 

It was quite quiet, but not empty. There were a few men by the bar to the right, and a little group of four huddled around a table in the corner in the back. Dream and Ranboo walked up to the bar, a man just a bit older than the woman at the plaza was tending it. He looked up at them with a practiced smile.

“Ah, what can I get you two gentlemen?” Dream and Ranboo were handed a menu that their hunger-riddled brains quickly scanned through.

“We’ll both have a plate of cooked pork chop with potatoes and carrots on the side, please,”

The bartender nodded, quickly walking over to what Dream assumed was the kitchen door and yelling out some numbers. Ranboo took his hand and led him over to a table, where they sat down and started talking.

“You know, Ochigac isn’t as bad as I thought it was gonna be,” Ranboo smiled

Dream smirked, “Don’t jinx it Ranboo,” the younger rolled his eyes.

“Oh please, what could we not handle anyway?” Ranboo teased. Dream hummed with a ghostly smile.

“It isn’t as pretty as New Kory,” New Kory was an absolutely _beautiful_ town miles and miles away. It was the neighboring town to the one Niki, Eret, and Tubbo lived near. His heart panged at the thought of the three siblings. Were they getting on okay? Should he send them a letter? How would they send one back?

“How do you think the siblings are doing?” Dream asked after a few moments of silence. Ranboo frowned.

“I’m sure they’re okay… I really wish we had a way of checking,” Ranboo sighed, resting his head on the palm of his hand. Dream nodded sadly.

They couldn’t sit in their self-pity for long though, as the doors burst open with a loud BANG and a man dressed in all black booked it to the bar. He lept over it and threw the bartender aside, throwing open the chest of money and stealing three bags.

The bartender screamed, scrambling up and fruitlessly grasping at the man as he lept back over the bar and ran out the door. He started wailing about “taxes” and “eviction”.

Ranboo looked at Dream, who didn’t spare him a glance as he got up and started chasing after the man.

Luckily, the streets outside were quite barren, it was nearing dusk and he knew that most people were in the heart of the city right now. It took a few seconds to spot the man, but Dream did as the man foolishly ran under a streetlight. 

Dream reached into the side pouch attached to his belt and retrieved the brand new dagger. He raised it over his head and threw it with practiced flourish and accuracy.

The man screamed in agony and fell to his knees as the silver blade sank into his shoulder.

 _Ruthlessly efficient,_ Dream praised himself with a smile, _As always._

He caught up to the man and held him down, retrieving the money and his dagger. He grimaced at the sight of the brand new dagger already dirty.

He turned around, noticing Ranboo right behind him. The younger looked at the man on the ground and frowned. Dream suddenly chuckled, “You jinxed it.”

Ranboo hit him with a deadpan and turned around, heading back to the Inn. Dream followed, hoping that the barkeep might let him keep some of the money as thanks.

The barkeep was standing at the door when they returned, he thanked them profusely while taking the bags back, telling them that they didn’t need to pay for their meals.

 _Better than nothing,_ Dream supposed.

The food was alright, it wasn’t the best they had eaten (nothing could beat the siblings cooking) but it definitely wasn’t the worst (Dream shuddered at the thought of his and Ranboo’s first cooking escapade).

They finished eating and bid the innkeeper goodnight. The second they stepped out of the Inn the feeling from the market came back. Dream looked around. While the streets were emptier, it was also dark. He couldn’t see anyone.

He slung an arm around Ranboo as they walked, when the other looked at him confused, he lifted his mask a bit so he could see his reassuring smile. They walked out of town and down the road to their little camp. The whole time Dream couldn’t shake the feeling of someone watching them.

They entered the forest, Dream was sure they had pursuers when he heard a snap of a twig behind them. He didn’t say anything though, it would be a lot more fun if they thought they had caught him by surprise. He smiled and threw his head back, whistling a tune Eret had taught him.

They came across their camp, just as they left it, two tents close together and a fire-pit in the making. “I’m gonna go get some firewood,” Dream said, walking off into the forest. 

He didn’t go far. Stopping right after the thicket and turning around, getting his sword ready. Dream waited, crouching in the shadows.

Ranboo hummed around camp, checking their belongings and whatnot. It was quiet for a little bit, Dream didn’t move and no one went up to Ranboo. He was beginning to wonder if he was wrong.

Just as he was about to give up and step back into camp, two figures burst into the clearing. Both were wearing all black except for their iron armor and had face coverings on. The taller grabbed Ranboo and restrained him violently, weapon pressed to his throat. Ranboo let out a strangled yelp. The other intruder, shorter, started searching him.

Dream didn’t waste anymore time, running into the clearing. The intruders both saw him, the taller lifted Ranboo up and threateningly pressed the dagger closer to the boy's throat. The smaller intruder pointed a sword at Dream.

“One more step and we kill your friend here,” he sneered

Dream faltered in his steps, thoughts a mile a minute. He shouldn’t have done this. He shouldn’t have let this happen. Now Ranboo was going to get _hurt-_

Wait.

Dream was a goddamn dragon.

But before he could give the two humans hell, an arrow split through the air and hit the taller intruder in the shoulder. He screamed and let go of Ranboo for a moment, the smaller one looked back in surprise. Dream took the opportunity and surged forward, shoving the smaller aside and kicking the taller away from Ranboo. 

Once Ranboo was pushed away from the fight, Dream looked back at the intruders. The two men were on the ground, the smaller also had an arrow in his shoulder.

Eyes wild, he looked up and over to where the arrows came from.

A man gracefully jumped from his perch in the trees. He was wearing a blue shirt with a red and white box on it, marked “404”. He carried an enchanted bow and Dream could see an enchanted diamond sword strapped to his belt.

Strangest of all, his eyes were obscured by opaque white-rimmed goggles.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Monday/Thursday schedule was a wee bit stressful, but it's totally manageable for me, so I think I'm gonna keep it for now :)
> 
> Please leave a comment if you liked it, comments make my day :))


	4. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dream and Ranboo meet George, Sapnap, and Bad. Did some of them know each other previously? Do they all operate on the same moral compass?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  
> {CW/TW} minor character death/killing, daggers, VERY morally-gray actions. It isn't graphic, but it happens  
> Also!!! From here-on out: there is gonna be violence in the chapters.  
> THIS CHAPTER HAS THE FINAL WARNING FOR VIOLENCE, AFTER THIS THERE WILL BE NO PRE-CHAPTER WARNING  
> !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
> 
> Short chapter, only 2.1k words  
> Not edited, so it may be slightly lower quality than normal, I'll go back and edit it soon tho

He didn’t have time to say anything to the man before the two men in black got back to their feet. They drew their swords and leapt at the man. The man (Dream decided he was going to start calling him Goggles), quickly switched out his bow for his sword and blocked their swipes with perfected grace.

Dream quickly drew his sword, a simple iron one, and charged forward, slashing at the taller ones back. He yelped and jumped away, whirling around to face Dream. He didn’t let up on his offense and kept going. Arms swinging in a complicated balance of control and wildness. 

Eyes focused on his target, the man was starting to grow sluggish in his movements. Taking longer and wider arcs when on the offensive, but he was starting to go solely on defense. He heard familiar footsteps running up behind him, he allowed himself a glance backwards and saw Ranboo running up to help Goggles, although he seemed to be handling the smaller crook well enough.

Dream turned back just in time to narrowly avoid a fatal blow to the head. His opponent just managing to nick his mask when Dream stepped back. He let out a less-than human growl and readied his sword for a hard blow. The man faltered in his step back and Dream pounced with a snarl, but before he could plunge the sword into the man's chest, someone pulled roughly on his hoodie and he fell back.

With a gasp, he whipped around, sword ready. Goggles shoved him to the side and walked briskly towards Dream’s opponent. He tied his hands and feet together quickly as Ranboo dragged the smaller one over, who was also tied up.

Thoughts going a mile a minute, Dream sat there, confused. _Why not just kill them? What was the purpose of tying them up?_

Ranboo glanced over at him, shrugging. Dream got up and walked over to Goggles. Who looked up at him and sighed, “They took my friends and I need them alive to tell me where they are,”

He nodded, leaving the man to go check up on Ranboo. The boy tilted his head up so Dream could see if there was a cut on his neck. Luckily there wasn’t, maybe there was a little bruise but no skin was broken. He let out a relieved sigh.

“Sorry, I knew someone was following us… I should’ve warned you,” he murmured. Ranboo nodded.

“You should’ve, yes,”

Dream shrunk in on himself, guilt soon overwhelming him. Why did he ever think it was a good idea to not tell his young friend?

“TELL ME GODDAMNIT!” 

The two endermen turned around in surprise. Goggles was leaning over the two men, visibly enraged, hands balled up into fists at his sides.

The two men shook their heads, and Dream could tell they were quite smug.

Anger started coursing through his veins too. Goggles presumably cared for his friends as much as Dream cared Ranboo, and he couldn’t _imagine_ what he would do if Ranboo was taken by someone.

He stalked up behind Goggles and peered over his head at the two men on the ground. They looked at him, but they didn’t seem to care that much. Goggles also turned his head to look at him, Dream shook his head, plan formed in his head and hoping Goggles would look away.

He did.

Dream grinned, sharp teeth soon to be on display when he unclipped his mask. Iridescent black scales that were scattered on his cheeks and forehead revealed alongside his glowing green eyes. Monstrous face out for the two men to see. 

Their eyes widened, practically bulging out of their heads. Goggles tried turning around but Dream gently took hold of his head and turned him away. Just in case. This man was a formidable threat and he didn’t want a battle between them.

“Where are his friends?” his voice was low and almost growly, all while his lips were grinning. The men started stumbling over each other as Dream clipped his mask back on and let go of Goggles, who immediately stepped away and stared at him, confusion evident in his eyes. Dream waved him off before zeroing his attention back to the men on the ground. Ranboo popped up beside him.

“He asked a question,” Ranboo piped up, voice deceivingly cheery and bright. Goggles hesitated before walking over to stand by Dream too.

The three of them started down at the two at the ground. They looked at eachother.

“We’ll take you to them.” the taller grumbled, accepting defeat. 

George nodded and kneeled down to untie their legs. “Lead the way,” he grabbed the taller one by the collar and hoisted him up, pressing his face closer, “But if this is a trap, neither you nor your friend is getting away,” he hissed, before letting go and letting the man stumble to catch his balance. 

Dream, Ranboo, and Goggles got behind the two men and pushed them forward, urging them to start leading. 

“George, by the way,” Goggles mumbled.

“Ranboo,” his friend chirped

“Dream,”

-

The men led them further into the woods, until the birch biome started turning oak. Dream didn’t hate oak forests, far from that actually, but he didn’t love them either. They were boring, the default biome in the overworld. Not many flowers grew, and if they did they were usually only poppies of dandelions. 

Dream noticed they were leading them towards a ravine, the gaping slice in the ground didn’t look hospitable in the slightest. So it surprised him when the men edged closer to the ravine, and then started walking down a well-hidden staircase. Dream hesitated, stepping aside and allowing George and Ranboo to go first, following along last just in case the men got tricky.

But the men didn’t jump, nor did they push anyone off, they instead stepped into a large cavern. Where in the center, a giant cage stood. He could see two shapes inside. His nose scrunched up, _How inhumane._ Around the cage was a huge juxtaposition, as there was quite the nice living area. There were actual _beds_ , both red, and furnaces and chests. This must’ve been the two mens base. Were they such notorious criminals?

His thoughts interrupted by George running forward and launching himself at the cage, fumbling with the lock. Two voices called out to him from inside the cage. Dream smiled softly at the scene before turning to the two criminals and sticking his hand out. Silently asking for the key. 

The shorter criminal gestured over to one of the chests, so Dream walked over and opened it up. What greeted him was plenty of riches. About half a stack of gold, at least a stack of iron, and a few diamonds. _Impressive… too impressive for two unorganized criminals…_

But he let the thought fly out of his head as he spotted the key. Picking it up gingerly, he walked over to the struggling George and slipped him the key. The blue-clad man glanced up at him in shock, which quickly morphed into a sheepish smile.

Dream stepped back to stand with Ranboo, who was keeping an eye on the two criminals. George opened the cage and was almost immediately tackled by two men. He let out a delighted shriek along with the other two, and Dream glanced at his own companion and smiled.

It took a few minutes for the three friends to remember they weren’t alone. They stepped back from each other as George gestured to Dream and Ranboo. “These two helped me intimidate the crooks to find you,” a pause, then a smirk, “After I saved their asses, of course.”

Dream scoffed, while Ranboo and George’s two friends laughed.

One of the friends stepped forward with his hand outstretched. He had tan skin and black hair. His clothes were quite simple, a white shirt with a flame embroidered onto the center of the chest. Black pants with white stripes down the side and checkered shoes. He also had a long, tattered, and dramatic checkered cape hung around his shoulders. Curiously enough, he didn’t seem to have any weapons or storage bags/satchels or armor on him. Though, Dream supposed that his captors would’ve definitely taken anything he had on him.

He gingerly shook the man's hand, “I’m Sapnap, thanks for helpin’ George and us out,”

Dream nodded, not knowing exactly what to say. Then George’s second friend stepped out of the shadows.

Dream blinked in surprise. The other man had ebony black skin, just like an endermans, yet he had horns as well? And his eyes, they were a bright, glowing red, just like one of Ranboo’s. He wore a gray hoodie with red accents. But Dream couldn’t stop staring at his face. 

Was _he an enderman? Why did he have horns? Was he end born? He had to be… How did he get here? Did he know about Dream? Did he-_

“ _Bad_?” Dream barely registered Ranboo’s voice. The red-eyed enderman blinked in surprise, staring at Ranboo. Dream also looked back at his friend with surprise.

“Uh… yea?” the red-eyed answered uncertainty. 

“Bad! How did you- Is that why you-”

“Who are you??”

Ranboo blinked, momentarily stunned. He glanced over at Dream, fiddling with his bracelet. Dream hesitated, before stepping behind Ranboo and placing a hand on his shoulder, nodding and subtly preparing to draw his sword. He trusted Ranboo with decision making, but he didn’t trust the others in the room with their reactions,

Ranboo huffed and practically ripped the bracelet off. The human illusion flickered away and there Ranboo stood, in his enderman form and glory. The humans in the room gasped, while the red-eyed enderman stood slack-jawed.

“Ranboo!” the red-no, _Bad_ , grinned, throwing his arms out for a hug, which Ranboo gladly gave. They started speaking to each other in End, questions of where they went, how they ended up here, who Dream was, etc.

Dream stopped focusing on the two and looked at the two human friends. Who, instead of staring at Ranboo or Bad, were staring at him. George, he noticed, was looking at Dream’s own bracelet, with an expecting expression on his face.

Dream lifted his mask up just so he could stick his tongue out at the pair. George huffed and rolled his eyes, turning away. Sapnap doubled over with laughter. Dream grinned while readjusting his mask.

Eventually, he got bored and wandered over to the two criminals everyone else in the room had forgotten about. They had sat down, and while their faces were blank, he noticed how they tensed up when he walked near. He squatted down in front of them, eyes fitting over every twitch and shiver. 

_Might as well put them out of their misery…_

He got his dagger out, the new one he had just bought, and, ignoring the pleas for mercy, delivered the two men to their death. In his opinion he was quite merciful, he gave them both quick deaths. He didn’t notice how quiet the cave had gotten until suddenly there was a hand grappling his hoodie and a face screaming into his.

He shoved George off of him, bewildered. “What??”

“What do you _mean_ ‘what’? You just killed those men!” he screamed.

Dream shrugged, “So? You were gonna kill him anyways?” George looked horrified, further confusing Dream. “...did _you_ want to be the one to kill them?”

“No! We were going to _catch_ them and bring them back so they could stand trial-”

Dream scoffed, lips curling up in a snarl, “Oh please, you know as well as I do they would’ve been found guilty and sentenced to death anyways-”

“You don’t know that!” George snarled, shoving Dream back. 

“I’ve seen _plenty_ of those trials. The chance of these two getting away with their lives is near impossible,” he grimaced, “I’m giving out the justice they deserved-”

At this point, the shorter was nearly red in the face, “It is not _your_ place to decide who dies and who doesn’t, _you_ aren’t justice!”

He scoffed, “Oh, and your human _courts_ are the _pinnacle_ of justice,” he barked out with a laugh.

“They have could’ve had a family-”

“And they could’ve ripped some else’s apart-”

“That doesn’t _matter_!” George drew his sword, Dream did the same.

“Woah! Woah! Okay! Calm down!” Bad leapt in between the two. “I’m sure we can talk this out-”

“No.” Dream growled, glaring past Bad and at George, “We can’t.” He then turned his attention to Ranboo, who was still in his enderman form, and stuck his hand out. Ranboo hesitated, glancing back at Bad with an expression he couldn’t quite read, and took Dream’s arm, teleporting them away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... yea...
> 
> A lot will be explained/expanded upon in future chapters. 
> 
> *slaps this fanfic* THIS BABEY CAN FIT SO MUCH CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT  
> I'm a sucker for Character Development, so excuse me while I make flawed characters
> 
> Comments and Kudo's make my day!!


	5. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dream thinks, then he talks, then he walks, then he writes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! So in case you didn't see the update yesterday: the reason this wasn't posted yesterday is because it wasn't ready. But it is now, though it's been barely proof read, so PLEASE tell me about any awkward bits or parts that are wrong in general, ty :)
> 
> I wrote a lot of this during gym and english lmao
> 
> 2.5k words

Things were quiet when Dream and Ranboo returned to their camping area. Dream forced them to relocate, their new camp was a thirty minute walk from their old one, not horribly far away, but still away. Ranboo didn’t say a word to Dream.

He couldn’t tell if Ranboo was angry or just thinking. 

Dream let Ranboo off easy, and he set up the new camping spot himself: pitching the tents, clearing the ground for the bedrolls, creating a new campfire pit and gathering the wood for it... 

Ranboo lit the fire though. 

He always lit the fires.

They sat in silence in front of the fire. The oak logs they were sat on weren’t the most comfortable, but they would do. Moss made for a nice cushioning. They just sat and stared at the crackling fire, watching wisps of orange fly up and flicker out of existence or into embers. 

This whole time, Dream hadn’t let himself think of the argument between him and George. But now with nothing to do to distract himself, his mind couldn’t help but wander.

Why was the blue-clad man so infuriated by Dream’s actions? The two criminals  _ kidnapped _ his friends, did he not want revenge? It could’ve been possible that George wanted to kill them himself, but then he probably wouldn’t have gone off at him if that was the case.

“I think-” Ranboo started. Dream’s head shot up and he stared at his friend.

Ranboo opened his mouth, then closed it; he repeated those actions for a while before stopping and sighing. Finally, he spoke, although with clear hesitance, “I think…” another pause, “I think George may’ve been right…”

Dream scoffed, “How? How would he know what was right-”

“Well how would you know?” Ranboo wasn’t yelling, Ranboo never yelled, but his voice did get louder and his arms flew out. Dream quieted down. Thinking.  _ How  _ did _ he know? _

The younger enderman pressed on, “We’re not human, Dream, George is, I think he  _ would _ know how to handle  _ human _ affairs better than us,”

That made sense.

A lot of sense.

Too much sense.

Dream glared down at the ground, suddenly  _ really _ offended at the pebbles by his feet. He kicked one into the flames of the bonfire, grumbling something even he didn’t understand under his breath.

It was quiet again for a while.

“You’re going to apologize to him,”

“whAT?” Dream yelped, shooting up from his seat. Ranboo stared up at him, seemingly unbothered.

“You know that he’s right now,” Ranboo elaborated, “It’s the right thing to do,”

Dream scoffed, thinking back to the red-eyed enderman that had intrigued him “And this wouldn’t happen to be an excuse for you to be able to talk to your old enderman buddy, hmm?”

The younger at least had the respect to look bashful, “Maybe… listen, it’s been  _ years _ since I’ve seen Bad, and I  _ really _ wanna catch up…” he trailed off, gaze sliding upward to the moon and stars.

Dream sighed and sat down on Ranboo’s log, shuffling over and laying an arm around his shoulders in a warm hug, which the other gladly returned. They sat like that for a bit, just watching the flames.

“So… who  _ is _ Bad?” Dream asked suddenly.

Ranboo smiled brightly, shifting away so he could face the disguised dragon properly. “Bad is one of my friends from  _ way back _ in the end! He’s actually the reason I would visit the Overworld so often…” Ranboo paused for a little, “When we were younger, he met a friend while in the Overworld, and he left. He only told and said goodbye to me, and then he was gone,” the younger frowned, looking down at the ground. Dream hugged the boy and ran a reassuring hand along his back. “he left, ran away just like us… Then a year later, almost to date, you showed up. I honestly thought it was fate,” he had a smile on his face again.

“He sounds kinda selfish...” Dream mumbled

Ranboo gasped, “No!! He’s anything  _ but _ !” he thought for a moment, “It’s very similar to us actually. He hated the End and loved the Overworld. And besides, I’m the one who told him to go for it…” he trailed off. Then he shook his head. “I tried looking for him in exile, but I could never find him… and now he’s right  _ here _ and I’ve missed him so much-”

Dream groaned suddenly, throwing his head back. Ranboo flinched, looking over at him, concern etched into his features. “Well now I  _ have  _ to apologize to George,”

Ranboo giggled with a nod. “Well, we’ll work on that tomorrow, for now let’s sleep.” the younger nodded to himself before getting up and retreating to his tent.

Dream nodded back, but stayed out. He diffused the fire and waited in the dark for his eyes to adjust. Once they did he laid on his back on the soft, now blue in the darkness, grass. He stared up at the stars, or, what he could see of them from the canopy.

The warm summer breeze ruffled his hair and blew gently on his skin. It smelled of forest, warmth, and water. He let himself get lost in the feeling. A warm blanket of air around him, the dark greenish-blue canopy above him, the endless expanse of space and stars even further above…

He didn’t know how long he stayed out, gazing through the treetops at the stars, but it was a while. He eventually retreated to his tent, giving his aching bones a rest as he laid down. 

-

The two End escapees were walking through the woods once more. This time the morning sun shimmering through the treetops dead ahead of them. It was a brisk morning, the kind where the air was sharp and the grass barely dewy. Their camping gear all packed up and traces of campfire gone. It was drizzling a bit, they were lucky that Niki got rid of Ranboo’s allergy to water when he was in his human form.

They were walking back towards the ravine where Sapnap and Bad were kept yesterday. They soon heard the tell-tale sign of a ravine close by: loud, yet hollow, wind. Just as they had predicted, they found the ravine not a moment later.

Dream took initiative and started walking down the narrow staircase, humming to himself. He hoped they didn’t attack on sight, he  _ really _ didn’t wanna throw them off the cliff.

But when he and Ranboo stepped into the cave, it was empty. The chests and cage were still there, but it was devoid of any humans. Or endermen.

He narrowed his eyes in suspicion, taking his sword out as a precaution before moving farther into the cavern, checking behind every nook and cranny.

“Hello?” 

Dream nearly jumped out of his skin, he whipped around to glare at his friend, who gave him a sheepish smile.

“Anyone here? We’re not here to fight!” Ranboo tried again.

No response. And after a more thorough check of the cavern, Dream could confirm no one was there.

Ranboo sighed, Dream knew he tried not to show it, but he’d known Ranboo for long enough to tell when he was deeply sad. He plopped himself down at the edge of the ravine, legs dangling off and staring at the bottom.

Ranboo sat down next to him, more carefully. The both of them sat there for a while, one thinking, the other defeated.

Dream let his mind wander off the problem at hand though, and back to the two criminals that’d started this whole mess. Could they be related to that burglar he stopped at Ochigac? They all wore all black, and it seemed too coincidental that he had dealt with three similar looking criminals in such a short amount of time. 

Then his mind wandered to the bulletin board with the WANTED posters. George and his friends probably weren’t criminals, but they were too well-armored for them to just be travelling buddies. Maybe they were Adventurers for Hire like he and Ranbo?

“Maybe someone at Ochigac has heard of them?” Dream suggested. 

Ranboo sighed, glancing up at the sky, “Worth a try,”

And so they set off once more, this time to the city to ask around about the curious trio. 

-

  
  


They neared the grand walls of Ochigac once more, and once more the ‘guards’ paid them no mind as they entered. Dream suspected that they weren’t even trained.

The pair beelined over to the plaza where the market had been last time. The market was still there, and possibly even more crowded. People bumped and shoved each other without care, nearly trampled each other to get to some of the stands. It didn’t smell great, it was hot, humid, and stuffy, and  _ gods _ did the people here shower at all? Ranboo and Dream must’ve bathed more often than the majority of the people in the square, and they hardly ever had access to baths! 

With a shudder, the pair moved to the corner of the plaza, where the WANTED posters had been. They looked across all of them, to see just in case if the trio they were looking for were in fact criminals. It was a strange assortment of people. Fox hybrids, pig hybrids, and goat hybrids mixed in with regular looking human brunettes and blondes. None of the brunets were the one that the endermen were looking for, and no endermen or tan ravenets did either.

So, they started walking around the marketplace, asking people if they’d heard of any goggles wearing George’s, Sapnaps, or endermen named Bad. They all either gave them weird looks or scoffed at them. Eventually the pair made the wise decision to go to the Lonely Serpent, something telling them they would be heard there.

They got to the quaint inn and waltzed in, the innkeeper saw them and a smile graced his features. “Ah, my two favorite strangers, come in, come in!”

The pair smiled too and walked over to the bar, the inn was empty right now, so they had no trouble getting seats at the bar. 

“What can I getcha?” the man asked.

“Well, we actually had a question,” Dream started, the man nodded, leaning on the counter, “Have you heard of a George, Sapnap, and Bad?”

The man paused, “The Muffinteers?”

“ThE whAT?” Dream wheezed, doubling over in his stool.

“Yea, guy in blue with goggles, guy with checkered cape, and the enderman? They’re called the Muffinteers, why do ya ask about ‘em?” Innkeeper elaborated.

Ranboo fondly rolled his eyes at Dream’s shaking figure, “We want to find them, any chance you know where they are?”

The Innkeeper was also smiling at Dream, “No, but I know they’ve been hired by the Emperor to hunt down some notorious criminals, the Sleepy Bois Inc.” Ooo, the Emperor, these guys really were a big deal, huh?

Dream finally calmed down and nodded, “Okay, thanks for your help,” the duo then got up and headed to the door.

“Wait! Do you want some breakfast? It’ll be on the house!”

Dream and Ranboo looked at each other, then back at the Innkeeper and nodded with a smile.

The man served them mushroom soup with baked potatoes on the side. Good food, warm food. Through some simple small talk they introduced themselves and learned that the man's name was Sebastian, he wasn’t married, but his sister was married to the woman who sold them the pretty dagger the day before.

“So, you’re travelers, right?” Sebastian asked while wiping down a stubborn stain on the other side of the bar. The duo nodded, mouths full of soup. “Where you from?”

“Oh… a place  _ very _ far from here…” Dream smirked. Ranboo silently giggled beside him. The man looked at him to elaborate, “We’re from a small village near New Kory. We were good friends with some siblings who lived a little ways away…” Dream trailed off. 

Sebastian frowned, “Do you miss them?” the two nodded, “Have you written them any letters?”

The disguised endermen sighed, “We move around too much to receive letters…”

Sebastian hummed with a furrowed eyebrow, pity seeping into his face. Silence fell onto the Inn, apart from the sounds of slurping or chewing.

A sudden clap startled the pair out of their melancholy. “Oh! Why don’t you write them a letter, then pick a town that you’re planning on travelling to and tell them to send the letter there?”

A blink. Another. 

“YES! Sebastian, do you have a pen and paper?”

Sebastian grinned, “For you my friends, anything,” he disappeared through the door behind the bar and a few minutes later emerged with some papers and pens.

Dream handed a pen and some papers to Ranboo, and they sat down to brainstorm and create a letter to send to the siblings.

-

_ Dear Niki, Tubbo, and Eret _

_ Dream and Ranboo here! We’re writing from Ochigac,  _ ~~_ we _ ~~ _ a friend, just had the marvelous idea to write to you and tell you to send a corresponding letter to the next town we will be arriving in! (It will be Miiam, by the way) _

_ Our journey has been going great! We’ve been to so many beautiful cities and met so many people. Dream nearly got us killed with his big mouth a few times, but we managed to get out of those situations without a scratch. _

_ Speaking of, we recently had an encounter with a group called the ‘Muffinteers’ apparently, if you’ve heard of them. What happened was that two criminals had kidnapped two of them, and the third found us and we helped him find the other two. When we did I killed the two criminals and he got real pissy at me. He was saying that they should’ve been taken to court and I had no right to take their lives. But I’ve seen courts! I know how corrupt they can be! I just wanted to get some more human opinions I can trust before we start on our next mini-quest. _

_ You see, it turns out that one of the Muffinteers (Bad) is actually an old friend of Ranboo’s! Ranboo wants to meet up and hang out with him. They left the area they were in before we could find them after we left because of that argument. We want to find them, if you have any idea where they are, that would be much appreciated. _

_ But anyways, enough about us, how are your lives? Miserable without us? I guessed… _

_ Just kidding! I’m sure you’re doing great. Have you made any more ‘strange’ friends, Niki? And Tubbo, have you finally started that bee farm you were always talking about? How’s the bakery going Eret? _

_ We would love to hear about how life's going back in Essempee! _

_ Hope to hear from you soon! _

_ Sincerely, your dearest friends, _

_ Dream and Ranboo _

-

If Dream got a scraped knee on the race to the post office, he hardly noticed, too excited at the prospect of hearing from his favorite humans again soon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ohhh it's all coming together!!! :DD
> 
> I love hearing any theories, questions, or just in general comments you have!
> 
> Comments and kudo's make my brain go brr and release the happy chemical :)


	6. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dream and Ranboo are on path to a different city on a minor quest. A special little fox keeps appearing, and then it appears in a very unexpected place.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I tried out a bit of a different writing style in this chapter. You can thank youtube for its abundance of ambient forest music. Tell me what you think of the new style tho!
> 
> 2.8k words

Beautiful songs sung by birds weaved through the air, paired wonderfully with a chilly breeze. Crickets and cicadas chirped in the undergrowth and at the edge of his senses Dream could hear the distant rushing of a river or stream. Small scuffs and sighs from the treetops told him that squirrels and birds were settling into their nests for the night. The air was heavy with the promise of night to come. 

From beyond the treeline there was a faintly visible sun, it was low in the sky and its rays of light hardly reached the two disguised endermen. It was in moments and places like this where Dream wished he or Ranboo knew how to play an instrument. Being able to sit down in a beautiful place like this, with all it’s beautiful sounds, and create beautiful music seemed like magic to him. Moments like these, the beautiful ones, called for music. 

He may not know how to play an instrument, but he did know how to hum, and hum he did.

It was one of the few things he felt connected him to his long lost humanity. Ranboo didn’t hum, he didn’t feel the need to, it wasn’t  _ natural _ to him. Not like it was to Dream. He hummed a small tune, a small tune he had made up on his own. It wasn’t like the tunes most humans came up with, though.

Most humans came up with slow, calming tunes to hum, to get them through their day to day. But most humans also had quite slow day to days, their songs reflecting that. Dream’s day to days were fast paced, and so was his hum. It started out low for a few seconds, before quickly moving up and switching notes in what Dream visualised to be a zig-zag pattern. Ranboo started calling it his Hunt Hum, as Dream had developed a tendency to sing it while on the job or while hunting for food.

Speaking of their job, they were actually currently on one.

In Ochicag, they had stumbled upon a person who needed some criminals to be beat-up in the neighboring city of Sol Engaels. The city wasn’t exactly on the way to Miiam, but it wasn’t terribly off path either, so they decided to take the opportunity. Of course, they would need to go back to Ochigac for payment, so this would take a week or so off their estimated travel time to Miiam. 

Oh well, more time for their letter to arrive to the siblings and for the siblings to write and send their own. 

The sun was still filtering through the trees, although the rays got weaker and weaker, and the songs and chirps quieter and quieter. And soon the bird songs were replaced by croaking frogs and the occasional  _ hoo _ of an owl. Bugs seemed to come alive with the setting of the sun, and the buzz of small wings filled the background. The moon cast everything in a silvery glow behind them.

“We should start looking for a place to camp, if I’m right, then we should arrive in Sol Engaels tomorrow,” Ranboo said plainly. Dream nodded, eyes glancing around for any prime camping spots. 

Nowhere in the immediate vicinity. He frowned. His footsteps were a soft thud thanks to the plush grass below him as he moved through the bushes, Ranboo had gone in the opposite direction to look.

Dream was passing a berry bush when it rustled. He glanced at it, seeing a tuft or orange and white fur crouched in the shadows of the tiny leaves and branches. He smiled and shook his head,  _ What a brave little fox, most run away. _

He continued his search, pushing past a few more bushes and marking a few oak and spruce trees as he went by. Eventually, he stumbled upon a tiny clearing, he could see the old remnants of a campfire and smiled to himself. He walked back to where he had left Ranboo and waited for the boy.

About 20 minutes later the younger appeared, with a frown on his face. Dream simply smiled at him, “I found a good spot, don’t worry,”

The two walked through the forest to where Dream’s found campsite was. As they passed the berry bush, Dream noticed the fox wasn’t there anymore. 

They got to the small clearing pretty quickly, and Ranboo nodded and smiled in approval, beginning to set up his tent. Dream did the same, pitching the lime green tent against a tree and crawling inside to swipe away at pebbles or leaves to make nice ground for his matching lime green bedroll.

Setting up the campfire was next, Ranboo’s tent was already pitched and he was missing, so Dream assumed he had left to get firewood. In the meantime, Dream found some bigger logs and rolled them over near the stone circle that was the old remains of the campfire. He brushed off any bugs or stray splinters and started fishing his flint and steel out of his bag.

Ranboo came back soon enough with a bunch of twigs and branches and he set them up in the small stone circle. Dream passed him the flint and steel and grabbed his dagger and axe, “I’m gonna go hunt something for us,” Ranboo made a small noise of acknowledgment.

Dream stepped back out to the unknown wilderness and let his instincts take over. He crouched down, eyes skittering across the forest and locking in every movement he saw. A flash of white and a  _ cluck _ came from beyond a bush. He got his dagger out and sleuthed over to the bush, as he’d thought, a chicken stood there. It stared up at him with an uninterested expression.

Before he could bring his dagger down, a squeak came from his right and a flash of orange and white ran over his feet and grabbed the chicken.

_ The fox _ .

Dream let out a small growl as he watched the offending mammal run off with his prey. The little bastard even stopped in front of a bush and looked back at him, chicken hanging limp from its jaw and dripping red ichor. The thing somehow looked  _ smug _ .

It leapt into the thicket and disappeared before Dream could embarrass himself further. He groaned and pressed his palms into his eye sockets, accepting defeat and looking around for prey again.

He hardly noticed the hum escaping from his throat.

It took much longer this time, but he finally spotted tufts of spotless white wool behind a tree. He grinned and approached the sheep stealthily. It looked up at him and didn’t have time to bleat in alarm as Dream launched himself at it immediately.

He killed the thing quickly; say what you will about the Ender Dragon, but he did teach the man to never play with his food.

He decided it would be easier to sheer and collect the edible bits of meat right here instead of dragging the thing back to camp. He used his dagger to carefully cut the wool off the sheep, it wasn’t much, but Dream knew he could spin it to string if needed. He also used the dagger to cut up some bits off mutton to take back.

As he was finishing up he spotted a pack of wolves in his peripheral vision. He smiled to himself and nodded at the wolves before turning away and walking back in the direction of the camp, letting the wolves have the rest of the sheep.

The walk back to the camp was uneventful, some bushes rustled beside him, but whatever creatures were in them were either too fast or sneaky to be seen.

He thankfully found a small stream to wash his hands and the wool in before arriving in camp. 

Predictably, Ranboo had lit the fire, and was writing in his journal in front of it. He called the journal his Memory Book, and it was a log of what happened in the day-to-day of his life. 

Dream threw the mutton onto the campfire and watched it cook, he sat down on one of the logs he had prepared early and sighed constantly.

It was summer, so small fireflies joined the embers in the sky and lit up the clearing. Frogs still croaked in the background, and crickets and other nightly bugs chirped in the bushes and trees. The air was thick with the nostalgic smell of bonfires and the delicious scent of mutton.

The forest around them was shrouded in impenetrable darkness, which was a bit unnerving, they were honestly quite lucky to have not run into any mobs yet. These woods were notoriously traveler friendly, however. No one knew why, but in these particular woods mobs didn’t spawn often.

Dream guessed it had to do with how  _ often _ these woods had travelers. Enough people slaying enough mobs would make it impossible for them to breed, eventually effectively wiping them out in small areas. 

Soon, the mutton was done, and the two boys ate in content silence.

“While I was exploring I found an abandoned hut. It was made completely out of stone and  _ so dusty _ ,” Ranboo hummed.

“Oh? Why didn’t you say, we could’ve camped there?” Dream pointed out.

Ranboo bit his lip, “I don’t know… something about that place seemed wrong. Everything was dusty except for this one chest and a particular part of the ground…”

Dream hummed, feeling the uneasiness spread from Ranboo to himself. “Anyway, a fox stole a chicken from me,”

Ranboo’s sudden bark of laughter caused some animals in the trees to start scurrying away. “ _ How _ ?”

“ _ Listen _ , I didn’t see it, I was about to kill the chicken and the orange brat came out of  _ nowhere _ . And you know what-” he paused for dramatic affect, “The asshole  _ turned back to look at me _ with this smug-ass expression on its face and then it ran off!” 

Ranboo fell off his log in laughter. Dream grinned down at his basically-brother and started laughing along with him.

“You just got  _ owned _ by a fox! Dream: the  _ ender-dragon _ protege just got one-upped by an overworld  _ fox _ ,” the younger wheezed.

Dream scoffed good-naturedly, “Oh please, it only got away with it because I have better things to do than exact vengeance on a  _ fox _ ,”

Ranboo giggled, “Sure you do… Sure you do Dream…”

The older pounced at him, he shrieked as he went down before it turned into a bubble of laughter. 

The two wrestled on the forest floor, laughing and throwing purposefully weak punches at each other. It was a miracle one of them wasn’t thrown into the fire.

Dream won when he scooped Ranboo up into a tactical hold (it was a hug) and the two giggled and tried to catch their breaths. Dream eventually sat the two of them down and played with Ranboo’s hair, telling him stories of Anansi that he had heard in the markets some time ago. 

His younger brother fell asleep quickly in his arms but Dream still sat outside, staring into the fire with a small smile on his face. It didn’t take long for him to pick up his sleeping companion and tuck him into his bedroll. He whispered a “ _ Goodnight _ ” as he zipped the tent closed and clambered over to the fire to put it out.

It took a bit of dirt and sand (he didn’t have water) and a lot of patience, but eventually the fire was thoroughly extinguished. He tiredly crawled into his own tent and collapsed into the bedroll, falling asleep instantly.

-

_ Rustle rustle. Sniff. Rustle, paw, click- _

_ CLANG _

Dream gasped and shot up from his bedroll. Frantically throwing his gaze from one side of the tent to another. 

_ There! _

In the corner, curled up in a protective ball and trembling, stood a fox. A fox with Dream’s open satchel at his feet and new dagger in its mouth. They stared at each other for a bit. Before Dream threw himself at the tiny creature.

The fox squealed in surprise and tried to scramble away, Dream was lucky enough to grab hold of its tail and pull it back, quickly grabbing it by the scruff as soon as he could and turning it around. He stared at the dagger in its mouth before it dropped it.

Dream didn’t get a moment to pick up the dagger however, as in a puff of smoke and light the fox transformed into a young man, who fell onto his lap.

He.  _ screeched. _

He heard Ranboo shout in alarm in the other tent and hurried and fumbly footsteps running to his tent. In the meantime, Dream shoved the man away from him and reached back for his axe, realizing it wasn’t where he had left it. Instead he snatched the dagger and pointed it at the man.

Ranboo practically fell into the tent. And then also screeched at the sight of a stranger in Dream’s tent.

It was a tense moment of silence. Dream scrutinized the man. He was the same age as Dream, he had black eyes and ginger hair. He had orange fox ears atop his head, a fox hybrid, for sure.

“So… uh…” the man started, as he raised his hands up in surrender. He had an accent Dream had never heard.

_ He tried to steal your things. _

_ Your dagger! _

_ He tried to steal what was yours. _

_ Kill him. _

**_Don’t you_ ** **fucking** **_dare._ **

Dream furrowed his eyebrows as his brain fought with whether or not to kill this man. One of the voices sounded like George. He didn’t like that. 

_ Just this once. I’ll spare him. See if listening to George is worth anything _ .

Dream grimaced and put the dagger away, the man visibly relaxed.

“So uh… sorry for freaking you out,” he said sheepishly.  _ Foxishly _ , his brian helpfully and un-funily supplied.

Neither Dream nor Ranboo said anything. 

“Welp, I’m at your mercy now,” the man paused, then looked slyly at Dream and grinned, “Though I suppose there are worse people to be at the mercy of,”

Dream blinked.  _ Is he… flirting with me? _ He quickly redirected his thoughts. This man is obviously a criminal, maybe he knows something about the Sleepy Bois Inc, maybe even the Muffinteers?

“Fundy, by the way,” the man hummed and leaned back on his hands.

Dream and Ranboo looked at each other, “Dream and Ranboo,”

Fundy nodded and settled his hands in his lap, Dream noticed he also had a fox tail as it started swaying back and forth behind him. “I can tell you want to ask me something,”

Dream nodded, “You know anything about the Sleepy Bois Inc or Muffinteers?”

Fundy paused, face scrunching up into a thoughtful expression. Ranboo scooted closer to Dream, but he was still blocking the tent exit.

“Before I answer that,” Fundy smiled at Dream slyly, “Would you be willing to go to dinner and watch a play with me?” Is he… is he  _ asking me out _ ?

Ranboo tried to stifle his giggle. “Like… as a date?” Dream asked, voice going higher.

Fundy narrowed his eyes, before breaking out in an apologetic smile, “Sorry are you… not into guys?”

Dream shrugs, “Haven’t given it much thought,”

“Well, I’d be willing to help you give it thought, if you want,” Fundy hummed.

Dream considered it. Why was he considering it? Sure, Fundy was kinda cute, and his confidence and brashness was admirable, but was that really enough to consider a date? Wait. That’s not where this was supposed to go!

“Eh, whatever, sure, just tell us what you know,”  _ godDAMNIT why did he say yes?? _

Fundy smiled, “Well, my adoptive dad is actually one of the leaders of the SBI, though I highly doubt you’ll be able to use me for leverage if you tried. My adoptive uncle and grandfather are  _ terrifying _ ,”

“Well, we’re not really looking for them, we’re actually looking for the Muffinteers,”

Fundy made an annoyed face at the mention of the trio. “I don’t know where they are personally, though I could ask some goons in whatever town you’re going to if they’ve seen or heard where they are?” the fox hybrid offered.

“That would be great, and we’re headed to Sol Englaes,”

Fundy grinned, “Oh that’s great! There’s a theater there where we can watch that play and a really nice restaurant too!”

Dream nodded. Fundy continued to talk about the play,  _ Treasure Planet _ it was called. 

Eventually Fundy asked and got permission to set up his own tent in the campsite as well, and he returned Dream’s stolen axe, which he had stashed in a bush.

When they had all finally gone back to their respective tents, Dream stayed awake and stared up.

_ Can’t believe George was right.  _

He groaned quietly, brining his hands to his face. 

He hated being wrong. And something told him that would happen a lot with George.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What did y'all think of the different writing style? I really need/want critiques or suggestions, it's one of the main reasons I started this story actually :)
> 
> Other than that, I hope yall liked the chapter!
> 
> I didn't realize until now just how LONG it would be until George and Dream are finally on the same team, although if I had to estimate I'd say about one or two chapters away? 
> 
> Comments and Kudos make my brain go brr and release happy chemical :)


	7. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dream and Fundy go on that date.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AHHHH!!! Over 2,000 hits and 216 kudos?? Y'all're crazy thank you so much!!
> 
> I honestly never expected this to get popular-ish like... AT ALL lmao
> 
> Also: I hope all you English nerds like my homage to the Odessey in the first paragraph lmfao  
> 
> 
> 2.9k words, another long boi

When rosy-fingered dawn came, no one in the camp noticed. The dense bark of the trees blocked out the magical pink and yellow aura seeping into the rest of the earth. Dawn brought with her a warm breeze, smelling of lavender and fresh dew, was summer here already?

Fundy was the first to wake, and to help gain trust with his two temporary travelling buddies, he took out some of the dried cod he had as rations and lit the campfire. He made the little group breakfast, lightly humming as he did so.

Ranboo was next, he crawled out of his tent bleary eyed and smiled contently at the feeling of warm winds and the smell of cooking cod. He sat next to Fundy, neither of them said anything, instead basking in the morning peacefulness.

A peacefulness that was shattered when Dream woke up.

Dream was a morning person. In a way. He may sleep in, but when he woke up, he  _ woke up _ . Smiling and humming and bumbling around. He spoke cheerily, not at all dreary from nights rest.

They ate their cod happily, Fundy and Dream exchanging a few snippets of conversation here and there, but still, relatively quiet.

Cleaning up campsites was always a pain. Having to make sure the campfire was properly out and wouldn’t accidentally catch the surrounding woods on fire was a pain. And to some, having to roll up tents and bedrolls just after the crack of dawn was even worse. 

But eventually, with enough nagging and pep-talks from the dragon-in-disguise, the three cleaned up the campsite and headed out.

Fundy led the way, still tired, but slowly gaining more pep in his step. His walk was very bouncy. His fox ears twitched towards any rustle of leaves or thumps of dirt. He hummed as he walked, and Dream joined him.

Ranboo didn’t bother suppressing a smile as his brother and the stranger hummed together. 

-

Los Engaels was colorful.

The buildings were painted bright yellows, blues, and greens. The support beams were a chocolaty wood, perhaps spruce? Outside every window there were boxes of flowers. All kinds of tulips, roses, cornflowers, and so many others Dream couldn’t even name! The streets were paved with a polished stone brick, not the cobblestone most other villages had. 

Women walked by in pink dresses with furry white collars and hems. Or blue dresses embroidered in golden silk threads. Each dress was unique, no two women wore the same as far as Dream could see.

Same with men, some walked by in emerald vests and sienna trousers. Others wore red military trench coats with shiny swords strapped to their belts. 

Dream felt a bit out of place. His green hoodie had faded significantly and had more tears and suspicious stains than he could count. Ranboo took more care with his clothes, and they weren’t nearly as roughed up as his.

He self-consciously reached up to tighten the mask around his face. He got a few glances, but none lingered.

Fundy stopped walking in the middle of a plaza. There was a gorgeous and intricately carved fountain stood proudly in the center. Handfuls of young men and women sat on the fountain and talked, holding tea and occasionally giggling.

The fox hybrid turned to the other two, “Imma go find my guys, you do whatever you gotta do,”

“We’ll meet back at the fountain around two,” Dream confirmed with a nod.

And with that, Fundy scampered off down a street, and Dream and Ranboo glanced at each other.

-

The man they were hired to take down was one Mr. Deadmane. A loan shark who had driven their client out of business as well as many others. As a rich man the law refused to punish with more than a light fine for the size of his wallet. The client warned that he had three goons/bodyguards that might pose a challenge, but that Mr. Deadmane was physically quite weak. Murder wasn’t the goal. Just some blackmail and/or threatening to knock him down a peg and get him to annul all the “debts” owed to him.

Their client back had told them to start looking at a hotel called Ivory Gardens. So they did. 

This time when they asked around the townsfolk for help, they gladly gave them directions. It was a young woman in a yellow dress patterned with daisies that actually led them to the hotel after noticing how lost they were.

The hotel was painted pristine white on the outside, and entering they were hit with the heavy scent of mind and roses. Inside the walls were also pristine white, and there were almost more incense burners than actual lights. 

In the center of the room was a polished mahogany desk, with a young man seated at it, scribbling in a leatherbound notebook.

Ranboo walked up to the man casually.

“We’re here for a Mr. Deadmane?”

The man squinted up at him. “What’s your business with him?”

“We have an appointment.”  _ An asskicking appointment. _ Dream’s brain supplied.

The man looked between the two tall strangers, “He didn’t tell me of any appointments…”

“It’s a last minute appointment,” Dream spoke, descending onto the desk and casually leaning onto it, “We just need to discuss some things, where is he?”

He looked like he was about to refuse, Ranboo sighed and carefully slipped his dagger out, twirling it in between his fingers and staring at the secretary, not saying anything.

Throat bobbing with a visible gulp, the man nodded, “Uh… right, he’s in uhh… room thirteen, it’s on the top floor,”

Dream nodded, glancing at Ranboo and inclining his head to the stairs. The two ascended up the staircase and scanned the number plates for a number thirteen.

-

If Mr. Deadmane and his goons mysteriously appeared at the nearby hospital’s doorstep hours later with broken bones and bloodied faces, Dream and Ranboo never heard of it.

And if their client got a letter almost immediately about annulled debt, they were also none the wiser.

-

They sat on the fountain and murmured to each other. They had already taken care of the minor wounds each of them had sustained and now they were congratulating each other on a job well-done.

They heard footsteps running up to them and glanced up to see Fundy trotting over, he seemed pleased with himself.

“Do you know where they are?”

Fundy grinned and nodded, then his grin faded to a sly smirk, mirth in his gaze, “Yes! But before I tell you, we have a date to be on!” 

Dream and Ranboo giggled. Fundy pulled both of them to their feet and started walking off down a street. “The underlings here are quite rich and one of them owns a hotel, so we get free rooms, Ranboo and you are sharing a room. That’s where Ranboo will stay while we’re out,”

Dream nodded with a smile, it was nice to befriend someone else. He had forgotten how sweet and selfless people could be. It was nice to know someone had thought through accommodations for him and his brother.

They got to the hotel, it was painted bright blue and there was a beautiful mural on the side depicting a man playing a guitar while two other men, a pink haired one and a blonde, sparred in the foreground. In the background was the silhouette of an angel. Dream stared at the mural for a bit, it was beautifully painted, so intricate. He wouldn’t call it realistic, no, it was more abstract, definitely, but so colorful and vibrant and  _ enchanting _ .

A tug on his arm from the shorter fox hybrid and he blinked out of his trance, offering an apologetic smile. Said hybrid rolled his eyes playfully and pulled him and Ranboo into the hotel.

The interior was warm. Wallpaper yellow with rose patterns and tapestries hanging on top of it. There was one painting in the room, one of a graceful looking fox.

Smirking, he tugged his hand out of Fundy’s arm and when the boy turned back with a confused look he pointed at the painting. The fox let out a breathy laugh and struck a pose similar to the foxes. Ranboo piped up that they got his good side and they all had a laugh.

Someone cleared their throat and they all froze, glancing over. It was an old woman, wispy strands of white hair flowing freely down her hunched back, faded magenta dress adorned with embroidered white flowers.

She silently handed them two keys before waddling behind the desk, burying her nose in a book. Fundy smiled softly and gestured towards the stairs. 

Up one floor and two doors to the right, Fundy opened their door with grand flourish.

“Here is your room, gentlemen,” He took off his hat and bowed jokingly.

“Why thank you, good sir,” Ranboo replied with a barely contained laugh, curtseying. 

Dream chuckled at their shenanigans and padded into the room. 

It was cozy, striped pastel green walls and two beds separated by two nightstands and a dresser. A plush carpet at their feet and more pillows on the bed than he had seen in his life.

On one of the beds, however, was a pastel green vest, black tie, white button-up, and sleek black dress pants. He hesitantly slipped over to the clothes and picked up the button-up. 

Fundy somehow appeared beside him with a grin, “Consider it a gift, our date is gonna be at some high-brow places, best to blend in!”

“But Fundy this is jus-”

The fox cut him off with a handwave and a smirk, “It’s stolen anyway, didn’t cost us a penny, go put it on, I’ll leave to change too and then we’re off.” and with that, he turned around and left.

Dream stared down at the clothes. Ranboo picked up the vest, “Oh damn, your size and everything,” he whistled. 

The older let out a flustered scoff and snatched the vest and the rest of the clothes away, commanding Ranboo to turn around as he changed. The boy giggled and did what he was told.

It was all his size. Perfect fit even. Dream didn’t know whether to be creeped out or flattered. He decided going for the latter would probably be best given what was about to happen. 

Pulling the button-up over his head, he tied the black tie around his neck before pulling up the black dress pants, tucking some of the shirt into them. Finally came the vest, which was easy to slip on with a few undone and then redone buttons. 

He turned around and tapped Ranboo on the shoulder. His jaw hung loose when he turned around, and before Dream knew it he was enveloped in a hug. 

“You look great Dream! You better have fun,”

“I think I will Ranboo.”

_ Knock knock knock _

Ranboo scrambled to get the door, straightening his back so he was as tall as could be when he opened the door. The view was blocked but Dream knew it was Fundy. The two at the door exchanged some hushed words, then finally, Fundy walked in.

Dressed in a black tuxedo and red tie, he looked good. He held flowers, roses and red tulips to be precise. The dragon couldn’t help but smile. Fundy grinned at him back, he pressed the flowers into Dream’s hands and then, unexpectedly, he took hold of Dream’s sleeves.

The fox hybrid pulled the sleeves up to Dream’s elbows, giving him a wink, “Now you’re  _ perfect _ ,” 

He rolled his eyes, then Fundy offered his elbow, which Dream took. Once they were out the door Ranboo shouted a quick, “HAVE HIM HOME BY ELEVEN!” and shut the door.

Owlishly, they blinked at each other, before dissolving into giggles.

Once they had caught their breath and composure, Fundy let them out of the hotel. It wasn’t quite dark yet, but the sun was low in the horizon. 

“I was thinking we’d watch the play first, and then eat dinner?” his date suggested. Dream smiled and nodded, letting Fundy lead him to the theater.

This was going to be his first time in a theater! His heart buzzed and his hands shook, the bounce in his step matching Fundy’s. Mentioned hybrid had leaned his head against Dream’s shoulder as they walked. Which Dream didn’t mind at all. 

Some part of him deep inside wondered if Fundy would truly be okay with staying friends after this. Despite how sweet Fundy was and how great he had a feeling the date would be, he couldn’t see himself with the man…

Forcefully, he shoved the thought out of his head,  _ That’s a problem for future me _ .

The theater, it turned out, was a giant marble building on the outskirts of town. As dolled up women and charming men walked by, Dream was glad Fundy had given him that change of clothes. The two blended in with the crowd well, and when Fundy miraculously produced two tickets, Dream shot him an amused look, having a good guess as to where they came from.

Fundy gave him a faux innocent expression and they giggled before moving on. 

He bought the popcorn, much to Fundy’s dismay. All it took was an exaggerated pout and the man let him do as he pleased, however.

They sat down in their seats after a bit of confusion and waited for the show to start. Dream kept having to slap Fundy’s hand away from the popcorn. No popcorn before the show starts,  _ heathen _ .

-

The play was good. Dream had fun, the action sequences were fun to watch, even if some of the moves were amateurish, Fundy had a lot of fun though. Practically bouncing out of his seat and constantly tugging on Dream’s sleeve whenever his favorite parts came up. It was endearing.

Now they were at dinner, it was a high-end restaurant. They had already ordered and were waiting for their food to come, Fundy insisted on paying for the meal and Dream let him, although surreptitiously slipping some of his own money into Fundy’s wallet when the other wasn’t looking.

“Is Ranboo your brother?” Fundy asked. They were playing a little get-to-know-you game.

“Technically, no, but in spirit, yes,” 

Fundy nodded with a small smile. It was quiet for a bit. “Why…” he stopped, then tried again. 

“Why do you wear that mask?” Dream froze, he tried not to make it obvious, but Fundy noticed. His eyes went wide and his hands shot up, “You don’t have to answer! I-I’m sorry if I overstepped-”

“No,” Dream shook his head, “It’s okay,” he tried smiling reassuringly. Then he paused, contemplating. “It’s just… scarring.” he lied.

Fundy hummed, sympathetic. “You know I won’t judge you less for that, right?” he murmured.

Dream smiled fondly, but was saved having to answer when their food came, and Fundy immediately became distracted.

-

The date was over, they were walking back to the hotel, they were at the front doors to the hotel when Fundy stopped. Dream glanced over at him with a confused expression. The other glanced down at the ground, suddenly bashful.

“So… have you given it thought yet?” he asked meekly. It took Dream a minute to remember what he was talking about. He smiled apologetically.

“I had a lot of fun Fundy, but I don’t think I can see myself with you…” he murmured softly. Fundy deflated a little bit.

“Oh… that’s okay…”

“... do you want the clothes back?”

Fundy looked back up and shook his head, a wavery smile on his face. He carefully put a hand on Dream’s shoulder. “Dream, I might not be the guy for you, but someday, someone will sweep you off your feet. And when that day comes you’re gonna need an outfit.”

Dream chuckled, and opened his arms for a hug, Fundy hesitantly accepted. He pet the others hair absently until they pulled away. Fundy was smiling up at him.

“Thanks for giving me a chance though, I had fun too.” a pause. “Oh! Also! About the Muffinteers, one of my guys said they saw them in Miiam, they’re meeting with the Emperor's advisor to check in on progress so they should be there a while,”

“Thank you. And Fundy?” 

The fox hummed.

Dream placed a hand on the others head, “Someday you’ll find someone too. Someone perfect and just for you. I know it.”

Fundy grinned. “Thank you Dream.”

And with that, they walked into the hotel and bantered a bit on the way to their rooms. 

Fundy pulled Dream into one last hug in front of their door and then pressed an emerald into his palm. “It’s a friendship emerald, I have one too. It’s enchanted so that if you tap on it twice it’ll notify me. It’s a way to sort of calling on each other if we need to,”

Dream smiled, “Thanks Fundy, I’ll keep it safe,”

And with that they split off, Fundy going further down the hall and Dream creaking open the door and walking in.

“Did you have fun?” Ranboo piped up from where he was curled up on the bed as Dream shut the door. He smiled and nodded. “So… are you two like a  _ thing _ now?”

Dream softly chuckled, “No,” 

Ranboo nodded, “Okay. Everything good between you two though?” Dream nodded, Ranboo nodded back. “Good good, I’m going to sleep now, don’t sleep in those.”

He had some trouble sleeping that night, feeling a tad guilty. But then again, he reasoned, telling the fox how it was would be better than leading him on.

And so Dream fell asleep with Fundy’s words on his mind.

_ Someday I’ll find someone, huh? _

He shifted to lay curled up on his right, eyelashes fluttering closed.

_ Sure, Fundy. Sure _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun Fact! This chapter doesn't exist in my chapter plans! So all of this was improved :)
> 
> I had fun with this chapter honestly, Fundy was really fun to write.
> 
> If I write what I expect to, then next chapter should FINALLY be the chapter where Dream & Ranboo and the Muffinteers finally team up lmao.
> 
> Comments and Kudo's make my brain go brr and release happy chemicals :)


	8. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dream and Ranboo receive their letter and finally meet with the Muffinteers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey y'all! I started playing modded minecraft again so i was really distracted and not writing as much as I should've, so please excuse if the chapter is sub-par. Hyperfixation do be like that sometimes.
> 
> 2.3k words
> 
> Enjoy!

Waves crashed onto the shore in a steady tempo. Cold, aquamarine water splashing against the golden sun kissed sand. Air filled with a warm, salty breeze that ruffled their hair. 

He felt at home here. At peace. As if this was where he was meant to be.

Made sense.

His dragon side was a lizard, lizards liked warmth.

He had taken off his shoes and his hoodie, letting the sun kiss his skin and feet sink into the sand. He sighed happily and walked towards the beautiful water, mesmerized by the steady back and forth it had with the seashore. It was a dance almost, a fleeting touch lasting only a second before it pulled back. The sand got just enough time to absorb the freezing aqua before being bombarded with a quick crash once more.

His friend was more hesitant, a few steps behind him as he reached down to run his fingers through the water.

Ice shot up his hands, juxtaposing the burning hot fire at the pads of his feet. He could care less though. 

He reached into his pockets and pulled out the friendship emerald. He had noticed the recently acquired cloudiness in the gem from dirt and dust. So the second he and Ranboo made it to Miiam, he beelined for one of the gorgeous beaches to wash the gift.

Miiam was beautiful.

A seaside city, with boardwalks and bright buildings. The air was damp and salty and warm, the only trees around being palm. The people went on their business, they never glanced at Dream or Ranboo, too busy with their own lives. Servants from the many many nobles who lived around nearly ran over the peasants as they got their Masters and Mistresses whatever they requested. Be it large shrimp hauls or expensive purple dyes made from sea snails.

The beaches were almost all open to the public, the only ones that weren’t were owned by the Emperor. He vacationed here frequently, as such there was a royal complex on the outskirts of town with its own private beach. 

He blinked out of his thoughts when a particularly large wave soaked him from the sternum down. He yelped and fell back, butter fingering the emerald onto the sand next to him. 

Giggling, Ranboo briskly picked up the emerald and handed it back to Dream, who nodded thankfully and started actually washing the emerald in the salt water. Ranboo stood next to him, bare feet ankle-deep in the water.

“We should start looking for the Muffinteers at the Royal Complex” Ranboo suggested. Dream nodded absentmindedly.

Before long the emerald was back to its marvelous sheen, Dream wandered back to where he had discarded his shoes and hoodie. He waited a bit for himself to dry before slipping on the clothes and leading Ranboo into the city.

It was quite open for such a bustling down. The buildings weren’t quite as tightly packed like in other towns. It was refreshing, being able to breath while people hurried around you.

The path to the complex was a long and winding one, and they managed to get lost a total of four times. Dream just wanted to have a _chat_ with whoever laid out the city this way. He managed to keep his cool though, the wind provided a nice cool breeze to cool him down.

The complex was huge and imposing. It was built out of Quartz bricks and pillars, and all the windows were stained an eerie red. The gates were huge and imposing, made out of the darkest wood Dream had ever seen. At the gates were not two, not three, not four, but _five_ guards. A pair at each side of the gate and one in the center.

It was impressive. 

Dream squared his shoulders and kept his head high, falling behind Ranboo as they had planned. His friend looked a little more nervous as they approached the iron-clad knights.

“Halt!” The two stopped as commanded. “What is your business here?” the knight in the center of the road asked.

“We’re here looking for the Muffinteers.” Ranboo stated, trying his best to seem confident.

The knight glanced at the four behind them, “Why?”

“I’m old time friends with one of the members-Bad.”

Again, the knights looked at eachother, one of the knights in the back finally walked up to the one in the center and whispered something to them. The night nodded and turned back to Dream and Ranboo.

“We can send a message to them. But we cannot tell you where they are.” Their voice was monotone, strictly informative. 

Ranboo nodded, “Of course! Of course! Could you-uh-could you just tell bad that Ranboo wants to see him and catch up, please?” 

The knight nodded, then they looked up to Dream, their eyes narrowed suspiciously. “What’s _your_ business?”

Dream put his hands up in mock surrender. “I’m just a friend of Ranboo’s, no trouble I assure you,”

“Hey…” one of the nights in the back spoke up, walking away from her post to stand in front of Dream. “That mask… are you Dream?”

He blinked in surprise, “Oh, uh-yea, that’s me,” 

The knight smiled sweetly, “My sister asked you for help with some zombies terrorizing her farmlands a while back, do you remember?”

Dream thought back. Oh yes, he did remember. The poor young lady who had recently taken over the family farm after her parents died and her sister moved away. The zombies were terrorizing her poor cows and ripping up her wheat. It was an easy job. A few sleepless nights of fighting followed by days of lighting up the plains surrounding the farm and job complete.

“Yea, I think I remember, I’m sorry about your parents.”

She sighed wistfully, “It’s alright, thank you for helping my sister out.” Dream nodded, unsure of what else to do. “I’ll make sure your message gets to the Muffinteers. Come back tomorrow for their response around midday.”

And with that, they were sent along their way, back to the heart of the city. They decided the post office would be next on their agenda, the letter from the siblings should’ve arrived by now. It had been weeks.

The post office was actually easy to find, right in the heart of the city and had an enormous sign in front of it. They walked in to see a few men behind the counters. The air was stuffy, filled with the scent of paper and ink. Dream walked up to one of the men.

“We’re here to pick up a letter from Essempee,”

The man nodded and slipped behind a door in the pack. A minute later he poked his head out of the door, “To and from whom?”

“To Dream and Ranboo and from Nikki, Eret, and Tubbo,”

The man nodded and dipped into the backroom before coming out with a letter once more. “Here you go.” The two didn’t wait any longer, and practically ripped the envelope to shreds.

-

_Hi Dream and Ranboo!_

_Gosh we were so surprised when we saw your letter arrive! And a little worried too, honestly. But we’re glad to hear everything’s going well!_

_We’ve heard of the Muffinteers. As for whether or not Dream or the Muffinteers were right…_

_Sorry Dream, but they are. It isn’t up to you to decide Justice. I know it may seem strange, but humans have ways of dealing with this, even in the most corrupt courts. So we would agree that apologizing is the best course of action. Ranboo, we hope you get to see Bad again soon._

_Nikki here! Have I made any strange friends? Yes actually, I recently befriended this traveling musician named Wilbur. He has two very strange brothers and a father, though I’ve never met him. One of the brothers, Tommy, has become good friends with Tubbo, and they go to school together! The last brother I’ve not really talked to, he sometimes shows up to the cottage to drop Tommy off but I haven’t gotten his name. He seems to be a pig hybrid of sorts. The three are strange, but polite (mostly, Tommy screams and cusses a lot but he’s a sweetie under all of that)_

_Now it’s Tubbo. I have actually made that farm! It’s less of a farm and more of a flower field with a bee box in the middle. But I love them all. We’ve found so many new recipes to use the honey in, it’s delicious! You two should come back to try some! Nikki told you about Tommy, but she didn’t tell you that he’s the one who gifted me the bee nest! He and his family are apparently involved in some “_ criminal shit _” but knowing Tommy that probably means they stole bread like, once._

_Eret. The bakery is going well, it’s popping off actually. Wilbur, Nikki’s friend, performs at it sometimes and gets a lot of customers in. I’m a bit wary of him but he seems to have good intentions. All the recipes that include Tubbo’s honey sell like hot cakes. Maybe soon we’ll even afford to move closer to the village._

_Life in Essempee is the same as always. Wilbur and his brothers have breathed in some new life into the town though. We have a feeling that they’re really gonna change the town._

_We hope everything is still going alright on your adventures. And we hope to get a letter from you soon!_

_Sending our love and warmth,_

_Nikki, Eret, and Tubbo._

-

The next day was unbearably hot. Stuffy and damp air with little to no breeze made it extremely difficult to walk around outdoors.

They rented a room in an inn the previous night, but given how busy the city was, they couldn’t keep it all day and had to check out in the morning. They wandered around the city for a while before noticing midday nearing and starting to walk the path to the complex.

Nearing the complex, they noticed an influx of people at the front gate. Dream surreptitiously stepped in front of Ranboo and readied his sword and daggers, just in case.

Once they were close enough, however, the influx of people turned out to be just who they were looking for. George and Sapnap were talking to each other, while Bad was looking down the path at them. 

Before he knew it, Ranboo had raced out from behind him and tackled Bad in what looked to be a crushing hug. The knights around yelped and stumbled, immediately reaching out to pull Ranboo away before realising that Bad was hugging back, in what was probably an even more bone-crushing embrace.

Dream let the ghost of a smile grace his lips. Before he noticed George and Sapnap staring at him. He remained silent, letting the other two glare to their heart's content.

“Oh! Come in Ranboo, we have so much to talk about!” Bad’s voice grew higher in excitement. Then he looked up at Dream and smiled too, “You too, come on in!” The red eyed enderman turned around and walked into the complex, arm looped with Ranboo’s. Dream followed them, pointedly ignoring George and Sapnap.

Bad led them through a courtyard, then into one of the side buildings, down a few corridors, and into a beautiful library.

The air was thick with the smell of books, old and new. Soft navy blue carpeting at their feet and all the bookshelves and tables made out of polished mahogany wood. Some of the tables had open books, most had candles. The ceiling of the library was high, and a glass ceiling dome appeared in the center. The bookshelves nearly scraped the ceiling in some places. Yet it somehow maintained a cozy atmosphere.

Ranboo and Bad immediately got talking, so Dream turned to face George, Sapnap was right by his side.

“I’m also here to apologize.” No point in beating around the bush. George blinked in surprise, while Sapnap gave him a bewildered look.

“Apologize?” George asked, apparently needing clarification.

Dream nodded, “Yea, for killing those two guys when we first met.” 

George’s eyebrows furrowed, in what, Dream didn’t know. He stared at Dream with an unreadable expression. Dream tried not to let it phaze him, and stared blankly back at the blue-clad man.

Sapnap cleared his throat, “Honestly, that was cool as shit.”

“Sapnap!” 

The checkered caped man giggled, looking back at Dream. “You’re forgiven.” he said with a dramatic sigh.

Dream chuckled, catching on to the bit. He gave an over-the-top bow to the ravenet, “Oh thank you, whatever would I have done without your forgiveness?”

“You guys are so stupid,” George huffed, crossing his arms.

Dream and Sapnap laughed together. Ranboo popped up at Dream's arm and gave him a grin, Bad walked over to his two friends.

The five of them talked for hours, George was a bit distant, but Dream and Sapnap got on like a house on fire. Bad was also sweet, and Dream made quick friends with him. Ranboo somehow managed to get George to like him though, and the two exchanged pleasant conversation.

It was nearing sundown, and neither Dream nor Ranboo wanted to leave their new friends again. 

In a fit of impulsiveness as the conversations were winding down, “You guys are looking for the SBI, right?”

George nodded. 

“Well uh… we might have some information and a friend affiliated with them.”

The three perked up, and George launched himself at Dream, gripping onto his arms with an excited grin and failing-or ignoring-to notice Dream’s flinch and hand shooting to his dagger.

“Who? How? You know what-doesn’t matter, just give us the info _please_.” the goggle wearing man was tripping over his words, grinning.

Dream chuckled at his friend’s(?) excitement, then plastered a sly grin onto his face, plan formed and neatly falling into place. “Well… we _could_ tell you, but that would be a breach of trust… maybe if you took us along with you I’d be more willing to give you the information?”

George stared. Then let him go with an annoyed huff, stalking back to Sapnap and Bad. Both of whom were smiling fondly. 

“If you wanted to join us, you could’ve just asked.”

“Is that a yes?”

“Fuck yea.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FINALLY!!
> 
> That's what you're all saying, huh?
> 
> It's finally happened! I'm so excited that I can finally move out of the 'setting up the plot' part of the story!!!!
> 
> Hope y'all enjoyed! Comments and Kudo's make brain go brr and release happy chemicals.
> 
> And as always, critiques are very appreciated :)  
> (Also if y'all have any cool words for be to learn/use, that would be great)


	9. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Three months later, how're they doing?  
> Spoiler alert: they're doing well  
> And fluffy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> DAMN THAT CHAPTER EXTENTION DID MCFRIGGEN WONDERS ON THIS CHAPTER
> 
> This chapter is 138% better than it would've been if I had rushed to complete it on Thursday. So we goin to weekly updates now, hope you notice and like the difference :)
> 
> 3.1k words

“DREAM-”

Footsteps pounded on the earth. Wind billowing against his hair and mask. A laugh right at the tip of his tongue. His body surged through the air, wove around trees, vaulted over fallen logs, and slid into thickets. Oh it was exhilarating.

Air crisp and clean, so easily breathable, even after running for as long as he had been. A quick step to the right. How long had it been since they’d started? A duck under a low hanging branch. Maybe just under an hour? 

In the corner of his vision, he spotted a cave, well hidden amongst the trees. He grinned underneath the mask and dove to the right. Taking quick cover under some bushes before keeping his body close to the ground while darting to the cave.

He bounded into the cave entrance and took his place amongst the long shadows.

Soon, his assailants arrived at the maw of the cave. Honestly, it was more of a cavern, Dream noted as he looked around, eyes quickly adjusting to the lack of light. There were no branching paths, just a big cavern.

“Oh Dream~” the taller assailant sing-songed. 

The two walked further into the cavern, until they walked right past him. He paused. He would stand a better chance of winning if he snuck out now. But scaring the two would be _much_ more fun.

Smirking, he settled on his plan.

Putting a careful foot forward to make sure he wouldn’t make any noise, he stalked up to the two. Quickly, he decided that scaring the shorter one would be funnier. Like a cat stalking its prey, he snuck up right behind the man.

His arms shot forward and wrapped around the smaller body, George let out a blood-curdling _scream_ as Dream lifted him up and off the ground. Sapnap let out a yelp and stumbled away wide eyed. Dream let out a pained laugh as George elbowed him and he let go. 

“You’re such an idiot,” George huffed in a wavery voice, hands still shaking from the adrenaline kick. Sapnap started laughing in the corner, though it was also shaky.

“Does this mean I won?” Dream asked in a cocky tone. George and Sapnap rolled their eyes. The three walked out of the cave and into the sunlight.

“Nope.” Sapnap responded, popping the ‘p’ with a note of finality and a smirk. George nodded, playing with the hem of his shirt. 

Dream groaned dramatically and draped himself across Sapnap, who giggled and shoved him off. He whined jokingly and went to George, who sent him off with a half-playful glare.

Three months he and Ranboo had been travelling with these idiots. It was awkward the first few weeks, getting used to being around so many people. But after that initial dry patch, it was all smooth sailing. Dream quickly befriended Sapnap and George, Bad too. Ranboo was even quicker, and gained favor amongst the three almost immediately. 

One night once they’d all befriended and become comfortable with one another, they started sharing stories. 

-

_“A dragon? You’re a dragon?” George’s voice was a bit wobbly, but he didn’t seem as terrified as Dream expected. He nodded, Ranboo giving him a reassuring shoulder squeeze._

_Silence. Three pairs of eyes piercing into his mask._

_“...So can you breathe fire?”_

_A startled bark of laughter escaped from his lips, which soon devolved into full-on wheezing. Was most of his tea-kettle-esque laughter fueled by anxiety and the deliriousness of the situation? Perhaps. Sapnap grinned, seemingly pleased with himself._

_“So can you?” he asked again._

_“Yes” he chuckled._

_Sapnap’s eyes sparked, lighting up with sudden excitement. “Can you show me?” he breathed. Dream hesitated, looking at Bad and George. Bad seemed indifferent. George tried mirroring Bad, but his leaning forward and curious eyes betrayed him. He glanced at Ranboo, who grinned._

_Dream smiled and shrugged, “Sure-”_

_“WOOO!” Sapnap leapt up into the air, a wide grin and eyes sparkling with flames._

_Dream chuckled and got up off his log too, stepping behind it and walking a bit away. He turned around and took in a deep breath._ Gods _it had been so long since he transformed. He couldn’t remember if it hurt or not._

_He played noncomitantly with a lime green bracelet before slipping it off. Human form blinked out of existence as he closed his eyes. Willing his limbs to enlarge and wings to sprout from his back._

_It was a stretch. Small clovers of pain sprang up deep in his bones as the limbs elongated and widened. And full blossoms of agony sprouted around his shoulder blades as they sprung two wings off his back. By the time his dragon form had settled he was breathing more heavily._

_He finally opened his eyes, not even realizing he had closed them. Sapnap, George, and Bad were all staring at him, mouths agape. He awkwardly stretched his limbs._

_Sapnap immediately ran over, running a hand down his wings with an openly curious expression. Dream smiled warmly. George wandered up too, though he didn’t get too close._

_“You know, I’m half-dragon,”_

_His gaze shot over to Bad, shocked._

_“Yea, it’s why I have the horns,” he gestured to his head, “My mom was the red-eyed dragon, while my dad was a red-eyed enderman.”_

_Dream nodded, not really understanding who the hybrid was talking about._

_“Oh! Right! Fire!” with a clap of his hands, Sapnap stepped back, smirking._

_Dream smirked back._

-

Night was falling as the three friends bantered back to camp. They set a leisurely pace, trusting one another to have their backs after months of trust buildup. 

The trek was a scenic one, they were walking through a plains biome actually. George, Sapnap, and Bad preferred to camp in open meadows, unlike Dream and Ranboo who preferred the cover of trees. It was hard getting used to, being so open on the moors. Mobs could easily spot them. Although the tradeoff was that it was also easier to spot mobs. Still, the amount of times Dream woke up in the middle of the night to a zombie trying to gnaw his leg off skyrocketed since joining the trio. 

One of the main positives was how easy it was to see the stars. They were almost never obstructed, and though the autumn air had started bringing in cold breezes, nights were still warm. Whether the warmth was metaphorical or not was still up to debate.

Now though, the sunset beat down on their backs, bathing the grass surrounding their shadows a warm golden-red. Dream had gotten lost in his own head, Sapnap and George were bickering again. For two high profile hunters they sure acted like children sometimes. Dream liked it though, it was endearing, and human.

His heart panged with a spark of envy any time the two did something so endearing. It was nostalgic to him, a deja vu feeling. The feeling of being _certain_ he had once experienced something like this, yet having no proof. More than once the two snapped out of their bickering when they noticed Dream’s wistful expression. He never gave them a straight answer when they asked. In part because he didn’t really want their pity, and in part because he didn’t fully understand his emotions.

It was strange. Being so connected with his humanity, yet still completely severed from it. It was like trying to rebuild a burnt bridge. Not only was the bridge ash, but the ground that used to support it was pliant and soft. Any attempts at a new bridge would crumble as the ground for the support steps gave way. 

“Dream? Hello?” an accented voice sing songed. His eyes snapped into focus, pulled out of his musings. George was waving a hand in front of his face. They were nearly at camp, Dream could see the campfire near the horizon.

“Sorry, what was that?” he murmured. 

George sighed, “Sapnap ran ahead-” that was true. Now that Dream looked he could see the black-and-white clad figure sprinting towards the camp. “-and he challenged you to a race as he did. You didn’t react though?” Although George’s voice was tight and controlled, Dream could detect the worry and underlying question. _‘Are you okay, Dream?’_

Dream played with his mask, unsure how to respond, “I’m fine I guess, just lost in my own thoughts,”

George narrowed his eyes, gaze scrutinizing the said accessory. “You sure?”

He hummed and nodded, and George dropped it. He fell into step beside the shorter man, and they walked in comfortable silence all the way to camp.

Ranboo and Bad were sitting on the grass, weaving flower crowns out of long grass blades and the dandelions, poppies, and daisies that occasionally dotted the ground. Ranboo gestured Dream over and had him sit down, placing a crown of poppies and daisies on his head. Dream grinned and hugged Ranboo, noticing the flower crown on the boys head matched his own.

He sat next to Ranboo quietly, quickly starting to copy the boy in the flower crown weaving process. He barely registered George, Sapnap, and Bad announce their leave to hunt some dinner and light up the area around them.

“I already made a crown for Bad, but I still need to make some for George and Sapnap. Which one do you wanna make a flower crown for?” Ranboo asked softly.

Dream hummed, thinking for a bit, “How about you make both, but I’ll go out and look for more flowers?”

The shorter thought it over, before smiling and nodding. He started working on the grass base while Dream stood up and wandered away, eyes scanning the meadow.

His gaze landed on a patch of flowers a little while away. It bloomed with colors, a rainbow selection from what he could see. He decided to be quick, breaking into a brisk jog to get to the patch.

He got there and confirmed his suspicions. There were plenty of flowers to choose from. He hemmed and hawed for a bit, before picking a good few flowers. Cornflowers, and sunflowers for George. Orange and red tulips along with daisies for Sapnap. He picked a few flowers, careful to leave enough behind to continue to grow and spread, before jogging back.

Ranboo approved his selection and quickly got to work weaving the pretty buds into the grass bases. Dream hummed as the younger one worked. Being bored, his mind drifted.

How were the siblings doing? In their last letter they had mentioned that there seemed to be new tensions in Essempee. And that the Emperor himself had even visited the town, and in that time they didn’t see or hear the three brothers they had befriended. Dream was uneasy, and asked them if they needed to come back. They were still on the way to the city the correspondence was being sent to. Only two days walk out now.

“Do you think they’re okay?” he blurted out.

Ranboo froze, frowning. “I think they are… they do live farther away from the village…”

“If it came down to it-” Dream paused, looking around. After seeing no one around, he still felt uneasy and shifted closer to Ranboo. “If it came down to it, you think George, Sapnap, and Bad would help us?” he whispered.

Ranboo paused, “I- I don’t know. Maybe?” his voice was quiet. Dream frowned, warmth flooding his stomach and heart. 

“Hey,” he managed a small smile, “I’m a kickass dragon, we don’t need anybody else,”

Ranboo let out a quiet giggle, and set back on making the flower crown with a small smile. Dream smiled too, satisfied with his uplifting and getting up to stretch. 

Soon the other three returned, bringing back a few beefs with them. Sapnap seasoned them a bit before throwing them onto the campfire, to the horror of George who quickly got a stick to prod the beef away to a safe cooking distance. 

Dream and Ranboo presented the two with the flower crowns once everyone had calmed down and were peacefully watching the fire. Sapnap had gasped and immediately placed it on his head, thanking them profusely and loudly. George accepted the gift much more calmly, yet Dream noticed the fond smile and excited spark in his deep honey-brown eyes. It filled him with warmth, seeing his two friends so happy from something he had created.

The steak, once finished, was good. _Really_ good. Sapnap always seasoned their food to _perfection_ . Dream was giddy for whenever Sapnap and the siblings would meet, the food would be _heavenly_. 

The group watched the sunset together, before retiring to their tents. Dream though, for whatever reason, couldn’t sleep. He tossed, and turned, moved the bedroll around, but he just couldn’t.

Eventually, he sighed and accepted his fate, crawling out of the tent with the goal to just sit by the campfire and stargaze. When he got out though, he noticed a figure sitting by the campfire already. He froze, waiting for his eyes to adjust to the dark a bit.

It was George, His posture slacked as a sigh of relief escaped his lips. George looked up quickly. He was still wearing the flower crown. The colors really matched his usual getup. Dream praised himself silently for the _outstanding_ flower choices.

“Oh, sorry, did I wake you?”

Dream shook his head, standing up fully and walking over to George. “Nah, couldn’t sleep.” He sat down next to the shorter man, who hummed and tilted his head up.

Dream followed his lead and grinned at the stars. The two sat there for a while. Enjoying the silent presence of someone else and the stars.

“I love the stars,” Dream murmured. George hummed back.

“Yea, sometimes I wish I could just-” he reached his hands up, “hold them.”

The taller nodded. And it was quiet again. An idea sparked in his sleep deprived mind.

“Would you like me to take you up to them?”

“What?”

“I’m a dragon, George, I can fly, and I can take you with me.”

George considered this for a moment, then he shook his head, “Thanks for the offer, but nah, I’m good for now.”

Dream nodded, though his face warmed and stomach and chest bubbled with an emotion he couldn’t place. It made sense, he’d only really known George for three-ish months. And he was tired. He could fall off pretty easily. 

Eventually, George yawned. Dream silently chuckled, when George noticed he gave the tallers shoulder a light hit. Which prompted Dream to laugh a little louder. The shorter one rolled his eyes playfully and pouted. 

Soon his eyelids drew heavy, and he struggled to keep them open. He tried, but sleep was heavy, and he was but a feather in its wake. He fell asleep peacefully, forgetting where he was.

-

When he woke, he noticed he was half-in, half-out of his tent. He sat up, confused.

He struggled to remember falling asleep near the campfire, though once he remembered George being with him it clicked into place. 

Dream giggled, George must’ve tried getting him into his tent. But couldn’t succeed fully. He imagined George’s frustrated groan, and the man quietly yelling at Dream before dumping his unconscious body where he woke up and retreating to his own tent. 

He was the first to wake that morning, surprisingly. He decided that going out to find breakfast would be the nicest thing to do. So he zipped up his tent and gathered his sword and dagger, leaving with his back towards the setting moon.

He found a flock of chickens, and killed enough until he had one chicken for each person. He came back, no one was up still, so he lit the fire. He placed the chickens on a special cooking blanket Sapnap had and wandered over to the man in question's tent. He unzipped the tent carefully and poked his head in, ignoring the sleeping figure and quietly taking his bag.

He sifted through it until he found the pocket of spices. He wasn’t sure what Sapnap used for chicken, so he decided to go safe with just salt and pepper before carefully placing the chicken onto the campfire like George would and returning the spices, placing Sapnap’s bag back in his tent.

He sat by the fire and watched the chicken cook, occasionally flipping it as he’d seen Sapnap do. It was boring, but he tried to focus, only occasionally slipping into his head and imagination. 

The sound of an unzipping tent made him perk up and look over. Bad was awake, and when he noticed the chicken he smiled, albeit sleepily.

“Aw, you’re making us breakfast,”

“Yep!” he couldn’t help but grin.

Bad wandered over and put a hand on his shoulder, “What a sweet muffin,” he murmured, before sitting down and leaning his head on Dream’s shoulder. Dream chuckled and bonked his head against the older. Bad was the only one of the three who would openly give him hugs like this. 

He started humming, and Bad smiled, relaxing against Dream. Dream couldn’t help but grin, it felt so nice to be so close to his friend. 

Another tent unzipped, this time it was Ranboo. He stumbled over to Dream and unceremoniously face planted against his side. Dream laughed and lifted his arm up, Ranboo sidled up against him too. 

The three end-creatures sat together in the early hours of the morning, staring into the fire or resting their eyes. Soon the chicken was done, and Dream had to temporarily leave the other two to take it out of the campfire, he set them down on the cooking blanket to cool and resumed his place in the middle.

Another tent unzipped, this time Sapnap. His flower crown was crooked on his head, red and orange flowers slightly squashed. _Did he sleep with it on?_ Sapnap blinked blearily and swayed on his feet, staring at the three on the log. He frowned.

“Hey! No fair! Make some room for me!” stumbling forward, he half-heartedly shoved Bad a little bit and hugged Dream from the front, receiving a startled giggle out of the mask wearing end-born. 

Dream did his part though, and wrapped the arm he could loosely against Sapnap, who giggled too. 

Soon after, George awoke too, also in his flower crown, though none of the flowers were squished. He looked at the four for a bit before awkwardly and slowly walking up and sitting next to Sapnap, also in front of Dream. While George didn’t initiate a hug, he didn’t complain or pull away when Sapnap turned and pulled him in so he was half resting against him and half on Dream.

The dragon couldn’t help but grin, these were his friends. He didn’t know them for long at all. But they were his friends. And they were comfortable around him and he was with them. His friends.

He rediscovered a word in that moment.

He loved his friends.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How'd y'all like the platonic fluff :D
> 
> I'm trying rn to move away from plot and just have them all character develop and grow closer. So expect one or two fluff chapters before plot resumes again. (trust me if what I'm planning comes to fruition you're gonna be thankful for the fluff chapters)
> 
> But yea! I'm really happy with this chapter actually, and I hope y'all liked it


	10. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Later that day, they walk to the nearby village. They get a bit more than they bargained for, however.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Eyo! Sorry this chapter was posts a few hours later than usual, I slept in.
> 
> 2.7k words

Grass in the meadows was different from the grass of forests. Grass was quite rare in forests, since most of the sunlight didn’t filter into the trees enough for grass to grow. More common than grass were dead leaves and sometimes straight dirt. But when grass did appear in forests, it was tough and crinkly. Usually more yellow than green. Inn meadows,  however , grass had all the sun it wanted, as such it grew tall and soft and proud. Not bothered by any other plant and allowed the room and sunshine and peace to grow soft.

Maybe it was strange of him to be so enthralled with such a simple plant as grass, but he couldn’t help himself. He noticed these things, these small, insignificant, things. He needed to find the beauty in everything around him, even if there wasn’t much to look at. Perhaps that’s why he really preferred woods to plains. There was simply just more to look at and admire.

That’s not to say meadows were ugly,  gods no.

Meadows were beautiful. Poking in amongst the tall blades of grass were  brightly colored flowers. Occasional trees dotted the landscape. Rolling hills hid valleys full of shade-enjoying flowers on their dark sides. The sky, so open and blue, wisps of clouds streaked across the  wonderfully blue expanse.

A village, the one they were heading to, was visible, even though it was about a mile and a half away. It was small, and self-sustained.  Buildings built close together, amongst them a post office where a letter was waiting for them . Farms cut through the tall grasslands with primitive home-made irrigation systems and pastures. Cows and other livestock fenced in rickety pens nearby.  Fields of cotton surrounding the village,  strangely empty, now that Dream thought about it .

An uneasy feeling settled into his stomach. No one working on the cotton fields? Field hands were always there, whether it was watering, sprinkling fertilizer, or collecting. Why was no one there?

As they drew closer, they heard the distant sounds of screaming, and noticed thick coils of smoke erupting from the town . 

Dream looked at the rest of his travelling companions. George had his eyes fixated on the town, looking concerned. Bad was also  visibly apprehensive looking at the village. Sapnap and Ranboo were speaking to each other in the back. Though they too  eventually noticed and paused.

The five continued forward, wary and on edge. 

Maniacal laughter paired with shrill and frightened screams. Men with gray skin ran in and out of houses, rounding up villagers or chasing them with axes. Books thrown out of windows, shattered glass on the road, doors missing or ajar. They  instantly recognized what this was.

A raid.

Two new sets of footsteps joined the chaos and Ranboo and Dream dashed forward.  Time was of the essence, the raiders ( commonly known as Pillagers) were ruthless groups of rouges . They would stop at nothing to earn some prizes. Slaughtering all whom they catch is nothing to them.

Dream didn’t register the shouts from George and Bad behind him, instead he drew out his sword and dagger.  An unfortunate Pillager ran across his path, and Dream didn’t think twice before plunging the sword into his chest . He let out a garbled scream and crimson soaked his cloak. Dream didn’t have time to relish in the victory, pushing past him and running further. There were many more.

A sudden thought stopped him in his tracks, amidst all the chaos. Would George be mad at him for killing the Pillagers?  Surely not… They were attacking people! And it was a kill or  be killed situation!

In his panic, he didn’t notice the Pillager running up behind him. Or Ranboo’s warning shout. He only noticed when he felt a sharp, almost punch-like pain in his back. A pained scream escaped him as he turned around, a gray figure standing behind him with a bloody axe. He  weakly managed to lift up his sword to block another axe swing  just in time.

A blue blur pushed the Pillager away, George. But, Dream realized,  suddenly queasy, George didn’t kill the man. Instead he hit him over the head with the blunt handle of his sword.

George looked up at him, eyes wild and  definitely mad. His vision became blurry, whether it was tears or blood loss he didn’t know. Nor care, he realized, as adrenaline and need to survive took over.  He gave the shorter ally a curt nod, what it meant not even he knew, and dove behind George to block a swing aimed at his companion by yet another Pillager . 

They fought that way for the rest of the battle, back to back. A slice here, a stab there, a kick or a punch to the head to knock them out. It was efficient. Even as Dream’s movements became sloppier as exhaustion and pain clouded his mind. Only  barely managing to stay in the moment. 

He  was covered in crimson. Some his own, most the Pillagers, a few drops  possibly Georges. He  bleakly mused that the stains would never wash out of this hoodie before the pain in his back took over his brain.

Holy shit it was  excruciating . He dropped to his knees, breathing  heavily as he whimpered. It felt like a repeating punch to his back. It rippled along his skin and down his nerves, punching all across his body at this point. His blood thrummed in his veins, and he felt every pulse with a weak shutter of breath.

Vaguely , he knew George was kneeling next to him, even trying to apply pressure to the wound.  Another figure leaned over them, and Dream, in his delirious state, lashed out with an inhumane growl .

A voice deep inside him awakened. A primal voice, one of instinct. One  distinctly familiar yet at the same time completely foreign.

**Fight.**

**Burn.**

**Protect.**

Weakly , he clawed at his bracelet, the only thing holding him back now. A quick pain blossomed at the back of his head, and his mind went blank.

-

Warm. Soft. Heavy.

Something was pressing down on him. Not in a bad way, though it was restrictive. It felt safe. Like  being enveloped in a hug. Was he  being hugged ? 

He  blearily opened his eyes to check, and  quickly shut them with a hiss. Wherever he was, it was  bright , way too bright. Somewhere at the edge of his senses he heard a hushed voice whisper something. It tapered off at the end like voices usually did when asking questions. He  simply whined in response, rolling over a bit and curling up, away from the source of the light.

A sigh, and soon the light was  significantly dimmer. He still waited, not  entirely trustful, before opening his eyes again.

The thing that was pressing down on him turned out to be a soft blanket.  He laid there for a few minutes, mind  peacefully blank, before something tapped him on his shoulder . He groaned low in his throat and sat up.

Sitting next to him, eyebrows scrunched together and tearful eyes, was Ranboo. He blepped in surprise and didn’t hesitate to envelope the boy in a hug. He hugged back as Dream  gently nuzzled his shoulder. He  was patted on the back by the other end-creature and he  reluctantly let him go.

Ranboo still leaned against him whilst he looked around the rest of the room.

He seemed to be in a hospital room of sorts. The walls were a light yellow and there were large windows to his right (blinds shut, thankfully). The room smelled of herbs and garlic. His bed was small, just barely big enough for his feet not to hang off the edge. But it was very comfortable. 

Observing himself next, he noticed the numbness of his back, he could hardly feel it at all.  Someone had also changed his clothes, as his signature green hoodie  was replaced by a light hospital shirt . 

He finally noticed the other people standing in the room. Bad, George, and Sapnap. All had worried looks on their faces, but while Sapnap’s was  pure worry, Bad’s and George’s had anger laced in them.

He stared at the three for a little, squeezing Ranboo for a little reassurance.

“You absolute  muffinhead .” a shiver went down Dream’s spine at the  coldness of Bad’s voice. It was devoid of all emotion except  barely concealed anger.

Bad stepped towards the bed  calmly , though his face and voice were anything but. “What made you think it was a  good idea to charge into a raid without a plan? You’re lucky George found you when he did!” Bad raised his voice  just a bit, Dream shrunk in on himself, heart beating against his ribcage. 

“ You sir ,” he pointed a finger at Dream’s face,  lightly tapping his forehead and making him flinch, “are on bed-arrest for the next  however long you’ll need to be . You’ll be under constant surveillance by one of us to make sure you don’t do anything stupid while you recover.”

The blond nodded  dumbly , unsure of what else to do.  The tall, ebony hybrid finally cracked and flung himself at him, enveloping the mask-wearing man in a bone-crushing hug .  Faintly whispering “ muffinhead, you absolute muffin- ” over and over again.

Two more warm bodies pressed against him, George and Sapnap. He tried hugging them all as best he could.  Somehow, they had soon all gotten under the covers and maneuvered around until they were all comfortable .

Bad sat behind Dream, supporting his back and wrapping an arm around his front, while Ranboo sat in front of Dream . His back leaning against the olders chest. George was leaning on his right while Sapnap had taken Dream’s left arm hostage in a vice-like “hug”.

No one said anything, the tension in the air cleared out a bit, but it was still there.

Eventually , the door opened, and a man wearing a pristine white coat entered the room. He looked over at the group on the bed and nodded.

“I would suggest getting him some food, he’s going to need it. Unfortunately, our food supply  was destroyed during the raid.  Fortunately , since you lot drove out the Pillagers, I’m sure others will be willing to give you free food.”

Bad nodded behind him and extracted himself from the cuddle pile before turning away. “Sapnap and Ranboo, come with me, George, keep an eye on Dream.”

Reluctant sighs sounded from in front of and to his left, and soon he  was left cold save for the warmth still leaning on his right . Ranboo gave him one last hug before leaving, and Sapnap gave him a playful salute and a big smile. The door creaked shut behind them and the room was silent once again, empty save for the two souls on the bed.

“You’re an idiot.”

Dream sputtered, whipping his head to the side, mouth agape. George refused to meet his eyes.

“You are. What’s wrong with you?” the brunet's sharp eyes  suddenly turned to meet his gaze. They pierced right through his soul and his breathing stuttered.  Suddenly the warmth left his right too as George stood up and started pacing around the room. “I mean, you rush into a raid without a second thought. Get yourself axe-stabbed.  You  keep fighting and pretend like you aren’t hurting until the pain is too much to handle and you collapse onto the street as an unresponsive  mess -” he cut himself off with a sharp intake of breath . He averted his gaze, burning his gaze into the floor.

Dream opened and closed his mouth, thinking and rethinking his answer. “I-I’m okay now?” he tried.

The brunet let out a light groan and tilted his head back to stare at the ceiling. He turned back to glance at Dream and he patted the bed beside him.  The smaller paused,  seemingly thinking it over, before waltzing on by the bed and sitting down with an exaggerated huff .

Dream chuckled and pat his shoulder. They sat in companionable silence.

“Hey George?”

He answered with an acknowledging hum.

“Are you… are you mad at me?” his voice was small. George shot him a deadpan look. “No, no, I know you’re mad at me for  that -” he paused, looking down at his lap, “I killed a Pillager…”

His friend let out a long sigh, and it was quiet for a bit. “No Dream, I’m not mad about that. While I would’ve preferred you not to, Pillagers  are ruthless. And any captured by the villagers here will  be put to death anyway…”

The blond nodded with a hum. “Can you do me a favor?”

A raised eyebrow.

“Can you pick up this letter for me and Ranboo? It should be from a town called Essempee.”

“I have to keep an eye on yo-”

“George,” he sat up and took George’s hand, staring him dead in the eye, “I  promise that I won’t do anything while you’re gone.”

The brunet was quiet, “Why can’t you get it later?”

Dream blinked. “I-  just -” he sputtered, then put on his best puppy-dog impression “ Please George?”

The older stared at him before sighing with a nod. Dream grinned and did a mime cheer. Causing the other to chuckle at his antics as he left the room. Promising to be back soon.

Tru to his word, Dream stayed put and behaved.

-

George came back first,  surprisingly . He had a letter that he passed on to Dream. He smiled and thanked the older man before staring at the letter. It looked different than the usual ones. Was it the envelope? The smell?  Though on a closer look of the envelope, he noticed the writing that was addressing to whom the letter was for was off .  It was still addressed to him and Ranboo, and still from the siblings, but the writing itself was unfamiliar .  An uneasy feeling settled in his stomach, so he put the unopened letter on the nightstand and waited for Ranboo to come back .

Eventually, Ranboo and the other two arrived, with food. There was a lot of it. Sapnap cheerily explained that the townsfolk were very grateful for them. Everyone had had apparently clambered to give them something as a thank-you.

Strange letter forgotten, he settled down to eat with his friends. He wasn’t allowed out of the bed, not even to eat, so eating the delicious food was a bit awkward.  Still though, conversation flowed, and they joked and talked and laughed  just like normal .

The rest decided sitting on the floor or in the hospital chairs around his bed was a better idea than trying to squish onto the cot . Which Dream was rather thankful for.

Soon, they finished their food, and conversation lulled. In his boredom, his eyes grazed over the forgotten letter on his bedside.

“Oh! Ranboo! George picked up our letter,”

The youngests eyes widened and he grinned, scrambling over to sit next to Dream  excitedly . Dream chose to ignore Bad and Sapnap’s heads whipping to look at George. 

The blond reached for the letter and opened it. Though from the moment the actual letter was visible, his heart dropped.

The writing  was foreign.

-

_Hello Dream and Ranboo,_

_My name is Wilbur Soot, Nikki may have mentioned me a few times? I’m writing because Nikki, Tubbo, and Eret are currently on house arrest._

_You see, I’m not as innocent as Nikki believes. My brothers and I run a little underground rebellion. The Sleepy Bois Inc. to be precise, I’m sure you’ve heard. Well, the Emperor doesn’t like us. He came to town because someone must’ve recognized us and snitched. One of his guards caught me and Tommy leaving Nikki’s cottage and they put her and the siblings on house arrest._

_We are keeping a close eye over them to make sure nothing happens, and we are determined to keep them safe. I only hope you don’t hate me for this, it was never my intention to rope them into this. _

_I cannot say whether it would be better for you two to come back or not. We know you’re in kahoots with the Muffinteers, and we’d rather not get caught right now. Though at the same time, I don’t dream of barring you from making sure your friends are okay. In the end, it’s up to you._

_But make sure to tell your friends that no matter how hard they try, they will never catch nor silence us. Ask them to open up their eyes. To really think about why they’re hunting us._

_To not leave the letter on a sour note, I hope your travels have been treating you well. And I hope you get to your next destination, wherever that is, safely._

_Sincerely ,_

_Wilbur Soot._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :))))))
> 
> The plot thickens


	11. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Darkest Hour in the Hero's Journey.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this is being posted late! It was a really hectic week for me and I hardly had time to sit down and write. Here's the chapter tho!
> 
> 2.3k words

“No.”

“What do you  _ mean _ no?!”

They’d been at this for hours. His cheeks and chin were wet with salty tears, knuckles white from gripping the bedsheets of the hospital cot, throat sore and voice scratchy because of it. 

He had been arguing with George for  _ so long _ . Why couldn’t the man understand? The siblings were  _ his _ siblings, he  _ needed _ to check on them, make sure they were okay. Why wasn’t George letting him? Ranboo was sitting, dejected in the corner, he had been silent the entire time. Bad consoling him. 

“For the  _ last time _ , Dream. You are still injured, you’re not going anywhe-”

“I don’t  _ care _ !” his voice ricocheted off the walls, raspy and desperate. 

George shot him an exasperated look, a glimmer of pity in his eye. “Dream, I need you to breathe and  _ listen _ to me, okay?” his voice was smooth as he carefully stepped up to Dream’s side. Hesitating before placing a hand on the blond’s shoulders and staring into the eye-holes of the mask. 

Dream gulped, vision blurry, though not because of the mask. He shook George’s hand off his shoulder and looked away, but stayed silent. He heard George sigh.

“I know you want to go make sure everything is okay. But you  _ need _ a plan. Look at what happened to you the last time you went into a situation without a plan,” George gestured to Dream’s current state. A coil of shame and anger settled itself in Dream’s gut. George just  _ had _ to always be right. “Sleep on it, we’ll make a plan in the morning. Although…”

George trailed off, then glanced at Sapnap, who was leaning against the door. The checker-clad man had opted to not get involved in any of this. “The fact that they’re in cahoots with the people we’re paid to hunt and take down might…  _ complicate _ things.”

Teeth grinded uncomfortably together as Dream locked his jaw, nails piercing through his blanket and digging into the flesh of his hand. “When innocent lives are at stake, does a paycheck really matter-”

“They’re under  _ house arrest _ Dream, they’re not in danger-”

“For now!”

“For the  _ love  _ of-” 

A hand landed gently on George’s shoulder as Sapnap pushed off the wall. The two shared a look before the ravenet looked at Dream.

“Get some sleep, we’ll talk about this more in the morning. I promise you, we’ll figure something out. But you need rest and so do we.” Sapnap murmured, Dream refused to look at him, instead facing the wall. He heard the younger sigh and then two pairs of footsteps walking away, a door opening and shutting. 

Now that the room was void of arguing, he could hear sniffles coming from the corner. He took off his mask, no point hiding his face if all the humans of the group were gone, and looked over at Ranboo. Bad was still consoling him, an arm wrapped around his shoulder as the boy shook. The eldest of the end-beings looked up at Dream, eyes widening slightly. The blond elected to ignore the shocked look, instead gesturing at Ranboo with a guilty expression. 

Bad whispered something to the youngest and the boy stood up and turned around to face Dream immediately. Awkwardly, the blond lifted his arms up and out for a hug, which Ranboo quickly accepted. 

A fragile voice whispered, “Will they be alright?”

Dream nodded stiffly with determination, “We’ll make sure of it.”

-

All traces of sunlight were gone. The moon was the only thing illuminating his room. 

Ranboo and Bad had left hours and hours ago, Bad telling him to get some sleep. But Dream couldn’t sleep. Instead, he was walking around his room as quietly as possible, packing all his stuff up. Did it hurt? Knowing he was going to be leaving George, Sapnap, and Bad? Yes. But the siblings needed him, and he’d be  _ damned _ if anything happened to them. 

He didn’t yet know if he was going to be leaving Ranboo behind. Hopefully not. He didn’t know how he’d manage travelling without  _ someone _ by his side. Maybe they could even travel like they used to when they first arrived to the Overworld. Dream as a dragon and Ranboo on his back. They’d get to the siblings by morning!

A small scowled formed as he thought of the siblings. Well, maybe not them. But that Wilbur asshole?  _ Gods _ if he got his claws on hi-

_ Thump _

Fingers splayed out across his satchel, he froze. He didn’t make that noise. Slowly, ever so slowly, he turned around. The door creaked open. Fear flashed across green eyes.  _ Shit. If they see me packing they’re gonna- _

“I thought you might do this,” a disappointed voice sighed. Dream burned with sickly shame.  _ George _ .

He opened his mouth, the shorter man put a hand up to stop him and crossed the room. “Listen. I get it, they’re basically your family. But  _ please _ , just think about what your plan is. You can’t just…  _ kill the Emperor _ -”

“I never sai-”

A harsh glare shut him up. “Think about this. Actually stop and think because I don’t want to argue. What are you going to do when you get there?”

Dream stayed silent. Was it not enough that he wanted to make sure they were okay? “I’m not going for a fight,” he whispered.

George studied him for a while. Another pair of hands soon helped him pack, another set of foot steps walked with him to the room Ranboo was staying in with Bad, another voice murmured to the young boy to wake him up. 

They left in the cover of darkness, with a final hug to George and a promise to meet up again soon. The brunet had promised that the three of them would be on their way to Essempee the following morning. Dream and Ranboo had agreed flying would be the quickest and easiest way to get to Essempee, under the cover of the dark moors, of course.

So they walked solemnly from the small village. Ranboo still groggy with sleep and Dream still feeling the stinging pain from the axe wound in his back. Neither said anything. 

Dream knew the second the village faded over the meadow’s horizon, it would be time to shift and fly. But they still had a bit to go. 

He glanced up at the moon, adjusting his mask for the umpteenth time this walk. It was a crescent tonight, nothing special. But still beautiful.

In a blink of an eye, the silvery crescent turned royal purple. Dream squinted, fingers fidgeting at his sides. Ranboo didn’t seem to notice. Must’ve been tired. Yea, Dream must be tired too.

“Dre-”

Shadowy arms enveloped Ranboo quickly, holding him back. Ebony claws dug into his own sides and he yelped. Weakly, he threw his elbow back and began to struggle. Purple eyes. Purple eyes like the moon. Stared blankly back at him. Fear clenched onto his heart. Endermen had never bothered him before.

He snarled at the Endermen holding him, writhing in their grasp. What were they doing? Had they gone mad? They hardly seemed to care, gripping his wrists together and holding them away from his body. He let out a frustrated yell and tried stomping on their feet.

Ranboo’s frustrated and terrified screaming filled his ears, pumping adrenaline through his blood. He wrenched his way out of the grip of the shadow creatures, growling, snarling, snapping. Ranboo’s voice suddenly raised to a higher pitch as Dream glanced over.

Violet particles surrounded the other boy. He began to disappear and reappear. 

Endermen tackled Dream, sidestepping to the right, he dodged. His hand immediately shot for his green bracelet as he continued watching Ranboo phase in and out of existence. His heart pumping and brain strangely empty of thoughts.

With a snap, the bracelet was ripped off and thrown aside. He wasted no time before shifting. He hardly noticed (and quite frankly he didn't care about) the pain erupting in his joints and especially in his back. Unknowingly, he let out a pained roar.

Flexing his wings, he attacked. Clawing past hoards of Endermen ( _ Where did they all come from?? _ ) to get to his friend. Three landed on his back, weighing him down. He snarled and rolled over, squishing them underneath his weight before leaping back on his feet. 

Dark purple blood stained the grass, illuminated by the still purple moon. He continued ripping and shredding Endermen away, eventually reaching Ranboo. 

Ranboo was enclosed in a group of maybe ten, fifteen, Endermen. Iridescent black claws grappled forward and pierced through dusty ebony shoulders. The Endermen made no noise as their bodies were shredded and thrown away like ragdolls. 

His head was filled with nothing. A primordial nothingness. His body fueled by instinct and instinct alone. 

Ranboo was still being held by two Endermen. He looked weak. So weak. So tired. So scared. He looked up at Dream, who was still trying to claw his way through those who once upon a time could’ve been his subjects. 

“Dream!” his voice rang out.

The dragon momentarily snapped back to focus, brain filled with thoughts. Rushing miles a minute. Thoughts. Thoughts. Thoughts.

_ What’s going on? _

**Burn.**

_ What did these Endermen want?? _

**Set the meadow ablaze.**

_ Why were they doing this??? _

**Get Ranboo.**

_ Are the other’s okay? _

**_Get Ranboo. Find the others. Protect._ **

“They-” the boy was cut off as lavender particles yet again blinked him out of the Realm. Dream lept forward. “They’re dragging me to the En-” Ranboo screamed, a puff of mauve smoke and he disappeared.

The dragon waited, muscles tense. His friend didn’t return. He waited. No Endermen attacked him. He waited. The moors were empty. He waited. The moon was back to it’s silver glory.

Green eyes fixated on the spot. The spot his brother had been. The spot he wasn’t in now. Noir talons shakily brushed the grass. Nothing.

Footsteps. Behind him. He didn’t look. Hardly registered them. His mind was blank once more. No thoughts. But a terrifying and horrible feeling gripped his chest. His limbs shaking sporadically, claws curling and uncurling, tail and head whipping back and forth. 

Three voices. Three warm hands on his side. But he didn’t react to any of it.

What had just happened? Was it all a nightmare? It  _ had  _ to be. Bad things- Things like  _ this _ didn’t happen to him. They couldn’t.

Numbly, he laid down, still staring at that patch of grass. The three voices became louder, one of the hands started tapping his scales instead of just resting there. But he couldn’t hear the voices, couldn’t feel the taps or the warmth.

-

George, Bad, and Sapnap had managed to corralle him into some woods at the edge of the moors before the sun came up that night. A week had passed, he still hadn’t spoken. He just laid in the thin oak forest as Sapnap and Bad tried talking to him. George remained scarce. 

Sapnap talked to him the most. Unlike Bad, he hardly ever asked questions. Hardly ever asked about what had happened. Hardly ever asked who’s purple blood had stained the once green grass. No, instead he told him stories, they were random, most of the time didn’t have a point to them at all. But Dream found them soothing.

Sapnap told him of how he met George. They were neighbors as kids and best friends since they could walk. He told him how he and George became adventurers, by slaying a witch that was terrorizing their town and earning the respect of their local Lord. He told him of how they met Bad. Finding the strange-looking Enderman whilst fighting off a giant spider in a cave.

Dream managed weak smiles during Sapnap’s stories. 

He liked dozing off to the drone of Sapnap’s voice. It was comforting. Sapnap had also found a favorite spot to lean against Dream. Where his tail curled around his hind legs, Sapnap liked to squeeze in between and relax there. The weight and warmth of his friend was relaxing. An anchor, really, tethering him to the ground and out of his head.

He could smell George’s guilt from miles away, even though the man never strayed too far from their campgrounds. He didn’t know why exactly. He didn’t blame George for anything that had happened.

One night, Bad had set up a campfire in their little clearing. Dream had curled his serpent-like body in a long circle around the flame. Acting nearly as a wall, keeping his friends safely tucked where he could see them. Sapnap had moved to lean against his long neck, Bad was sitting by his side, and George was stationed near the tip of his tail. 

Dream started a conversation, just some questions about what the three did that day. He knew his voice sounded insincere and rough. But Bad seemed overjoyed anyway, answering his boring questions with glee.

George spoke after a bit of a lull. “So, what happened to Ranboo?”

Sapnap glared at the brunet. Dream looked away. George was defiant and ignorant to the cues, however, and simply repeated the question.

“He was taken… back to the End.” with great strength, he answered the question. It hurt. Pain seized his heart and lungs, making his eyes water. But he knew Ranboo wasn’t  _ only his _ friend. He was friends with George, Sapnap, and Bad too. They deserved to know.

“Oh… is that it?”

Dream reared his head up and towards George in shock. Sapnap yelped as the neck he was leaning on ripped away from under him. George kept his gaze, an eyebrow raised.

“If he was  _ taken _ -” George paused to look at Bad, who looked back at him with wide eyes. They spoke to each other in minute facial expressions for a few seconds. Before George cleared his throat and stood up. Steadily and sure on his feet, he walked to Dream and put a hand on his shoulder.

“Then let’s go get him.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :)


	12. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The world keeps spinning, and Dream has to start hatching a plan to make sure it keeps spinning for Ranboo too

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here it finally is!!
> 
> Not my best chapter, but I do still like it quite a bit :)
> 
> 2.6k words

It wasn’t as easy as they had initially thought.

The first obstacle was the first step: getting to the End.

While Bad  _ could _ teleport into the End, he couldn’t take the rest with him, and there was  _ no way _ he was going to be able to rescue Ranboo himself. Dream had actually never learned how to teleport between realms, it was the whole reason he and Ranboo had escaped through a portal in the End Cities!

Another obstacle was everything going on at Essempee and the siblings. Both Ranboo and the siblings were so important to Dream, and he couldn’t go after one group without feeling guilty or petrified at the other(s).

After many hours of debate, George had brought up the point that if Nikki and Eret knew enough magic to be able to give him a human form, they could possibly know a way to the end. 

So a plan was formed to start travelling to Essempee, two birds with one stone. Dream was hopeful, even if he knew deep inside that the chances of the siblings knowing anything that useful was slim. And the problem with the “conflict of interest” was resolved quite quickly. The siblings were only friends with the SBI, but there was no proof they were a part of it, so they weren’t in the Muffinteers burn book. 

Plus, George and Sapnap had agreed to let the SBI talk once they got there, they admitted that the Emperor was a bit…  _ unhinged _ .

It had taken George and Sapnap a lot of searching, but they eventually found Dream’s bracelet. He didn’t put it on until they had also found his mask though. It was less of an anonymity and more of a comfort thing at this point. 

It felt good to be back in human form again, and once they got a move on East towards Essempee, he pointedly ignored the purple ichor staining the grass.

Night had fallen, they had set up camp. Though the camp wasn’t illuminated by warm fire, but by the moonlight. Why had no one lit the fire yet? 

Dream shrugged it off, Ranboo would get to it eventually, and continued pitching the tents and listening to the crickets chirping and owls hooting. Minutes ticked by, and the fire still wasn’t lit. Now cold and confused, Dream looked around for his younger friend.

Realization struck him with a cold pang. 

Ranboo wouldn’t be lighting the campfire, as he usually did. 

Because Ranboo wasn’t here.

Such a small thing. A small, small thing he took for granted and didn’t even realize. Gone. So suddenly. 

If salty tears ran down his face while his hands trembled lighting the fire, the other three didn’t mention it. Heart sinking low in his chest, he stared at the tiny spark of flame with fury and sadness and acceptance.

His jaw locked as he stiffly walked away from the slowly glowing fire, the light more red than the usual yellow. Ruby whirls of light illuminated his sides and made his shadow, cast on a patch of greenish-azure grass, look even colder and alone.

Hands clenched in fists, he sat down on the cold grass. 

Arms wrapped around his waist. Dream refused to acknowledge the raven hair clouding his vision as Sapnap hugged him. He gave the smaller a few pats on the back, but his arms were too leaden to fully reciprocate the hug. 

His head fell onto Sapnap’s shoulder, and he forced himself to breathe. Trying his hardest to keep his tears in and not ruin his friends shirt.

Sapnap wiggled around a bit in his lap, getting comfortable, before slowly and gently taking his cape off and tossing it around Dream’s shoulders. The blond appreciated the gesture, the ravenets cape was warm, comforting, and heavy. Grounding him.

Dream heard George and Bad shuffling in the background, and smelled pork cooking over the fire. But he allowed himself to relax in Sapnap’s embrace. So thankful for a friend like him. They didn’t speak. Sapnap didn’t pry. But right now, it wasn’t needed. He knew Sapnap would ask later, and while he wasn’t looking forward to it, he sure as hell didn’t want to talk about it  _ now _ .

Soon, Sapnap started humming, Dream joining in absentmindedly. An accented hum joined them a minute or two later. Dream revelled in the subconscious bond between the three humans-or, two humans and one once-human- did it still count?

Eventually, he extracted himself from Sapnap’s embrace and handed him back his cape with a smile. The younger grinned back and squeezed his arm before moving over to the pork to season it to perfection. 

So peaceful, sitting down in front of a fire. Maybe it wasn’t lit by his brother, but he knew that sooner or later there would be another one lit by the young enderman. 

“Ranboo used to light the fires.” leave it to George to be so dry and brutal. 

A surprised cackle escaped Dream’s lips. Quickly dissolving into a lung-collapsing wheeze. A few concerned chuckles came from Sapnap while George stared at Dream with an unreadable expression.

“What the  _ fuck _ , George?” his voice wavered, not from sorrow, but from hilarity. George cracked a smile and adjusted his goggles bashfully.

“I’m not wrong,” he responded cheekily. Dream scoffed good-naturedly and rolled his eyes.

George seemed proud of himself, for what Dream couldn’t guess. Though he found he didn’t mind it, pride was a good look on the brunet, he decided. 

Though his musings were interrupted when Sapnap unceremoniously shoved a cooked porkchop right under his nose. And he obeyed the unspoken order to eat it. As always, Sapnap had a way with spices, a masterful art. Combining sour, spicy, salty, bitter, and everything in between into a delicious cacophony of flavors. Distantly, he wondered where Sapnap had even learned to cook. 

Bad pulled out a map as the group was finishing dinner, and announced that if they kept walking at the pace they were, they would reach Essempee in a week or two. 

Dream decided to retire to his tent early that morning.

He missed the conversation between the three about how he had still set up Ranboo’s tent.

-

Just over the horizon, lay the town of Essempee. The sky an alluring cobalt blue with fat swaths of cottony white clouds lazily drifting across the wide expanse. The familiarity of Essempee’s skyline (though it comparatively wasn’t much to the countless cities he’d traversed) made his knees buck and eyes fill up with tears.

Legs moving on their own accord, he broke out into a sprint, down the dirt path he had left on so many years ago. His mind raced. Had Tubbo gotten taller? Had Eret accumulated any scars? Had Nikki dyed her hair? How had the siblings changed over the years? 

He didn’t register his friends' shouts at him to slow down. He couldn't, not when he was  _ so close _ ! 

Blazing through the forest separating the town from the marsh the siblings lived in, he noticed it was thinner, with many freshly planted saplings littering the ground.

A familiar  _ squelch _ filled his ears as his feet landed on the soft soil of the swamp. He breathed in the disgustingly moist air and nearly cried. It had been  _ so long _ since he had breathed this shit air! Oh how he’d missed it!

His eyes sharpened on the dainty curls of smoke appearing in the distance, a wolfish grin spreading over his face as he resumed his dash towards home. 

Soon, the ground solidified in that familiar way, and the two fruit trees came into view. They were definitely taller than when he had left. Fresh oranges and apples weighing the branches of the massive trees down. He happily got on his toes to pick an apple. It tasted like home. 

A sent wafted through the air. His eyes and mouth watered.

Cooked cod and potatoes.

He discarded the apple and slowly walked up the stone path to the cobble-stone spruce cottage. Limbs feeling lighter than air, brain fuzzy with so much joy he couldn’t unleash it. So happy, so excited, he was calm. 

He heard loud pants and soft footsteps behind him, but he didn’t look back. Instead, he rapped his knuckles on the spruce door and waited, practically vibrating in his boots.

Silverware clanked against a dish inside and a groan was heard. 

“I told you a  _ million  _ times-” the door flew open “We don’t know anythi-”

She had changed.

Her hair was no longer black with two blond locks framing her face. She had dyed it a beautiful pastel-y pink. Her blue eyes were sharper now, laced with anger and exhaustion. 

Her mouth was agape, staring up at him with wide eyes that were quickly beginning to water. With a dopey grin, he opened his arms for a hug.

With a high pitched squeal/shriek, she threw herself into his arms. Their tears and sobs mixed together as he gripped onto her as tight as he could.

Two brunettes rushed over from inside the house, Tubbo letting out a gasp before launching himself at the tall blond. Eret also gasped and joined the hug, gripping onto Dream with strength the enderman didn’t remember.

Eret pulled them all inside, and they collapsed onto the floor in a weeping mess. Out of the corner of his eye, Dream noticed three shadows in the doorway. He didn’t care though, introductions could be carried out later, right now he needed this.

After several minutes, they had calmed down and shifted around. Tubbo was sat in his lap whilst Nikki had taken off his mask and situated herself behind him to create little braids in his hair. Eret was still hugging him from his side and resting his chin on the blonds forehead. 

An awkward clearing of the throat at the doorway and suddenly Dream remembered that he hadn’t come here alone. 

“Oh! Right! Tubbo, Nikki, Eret, meet George, Sapnap, and Bad. They’re our friends!” 

All six of them looked at eachother. Niki stood up calmly and gave them a smile, murmuring a welcome and soft greeting. She let the three in as Eret also walked over and introduced himself, warily however, Dream noticed. Tubbo stuck by the blond, content with observing the newcomers from afar.

Thankfully, they all got along well. George was extremely polite and smiley, it put Dream off a bit. It was so strange, seeing George nice and grinning. He honestly couldn’t tell if he liked it or found it a bit creepy. 

Bad and Nikki befriended each other quickly. Sapnap was just as quick to start terrorizing Tubbo (in good fun, of course). 

Strangely, George and Eret didn’t seem to click. Dream had honestly assumed they would become fast friends. They  _ were _ still friendly to each other, but they mostly sat back and surveyed the others. 

Dream let them all mingle. He wanted to put off the news for as long as he possibly could. Forever, even, if it was possible. 

Though, he supposed it would have been almost offensive if the siblings didn’t inquire about where they’re favorite enderman was.

Tubbo was the first one that asked, “Hey, actually, where  _ is _ Ranboo?” his voice was so naive. Though Dream recognized the calculating and worried look in the younger boys eyes.

The blond averted his gaze to the floor, death gripping his arms as he hugged himself. 

“He… he was taken. To the end.” he bit out.

Everyone fell silent. Dream didn’t dare look up. He knew he wouldn’t be able to handle the looks on their faces. A soft hand brushed his shoulder, he glanced over to see George giving him a reassuring look, eyes flickering up and down, gesturing to the siblings. 

With a deep breath, he steeled his nerves and met the siblings gaze. Nikki had her eyes closed and hands over her mouth, a slight tremor in her shoulders. Eret had let their hands fall to their sides in fists, though she didn’t look as angry as Dream thought he would. Tubbo though…

The boy looked sick. His face had gone pale except for the red blossoming on his nose and cheeks. Juxtaposing this, however, his eyes had a blaze in them. A determined flare. 

“I think.” Tubbo’s voice was strong and loud, color returned to his face as he straightened his back and shakily smiled, looking at Dream. “I think I have a plan.”

-

Tubbo’s plan turned out to be directions into the middle of the forest. He had slipped Dream a piece of paper with some coordinates on them and urged him to go alone, and to tell anyone he saw there that Tubbo had sent him. 

So Dream, after checking with George, Sapnap, and Bad, set off on his own to this mysterious forest. Mask slipped over his face, he hardly noticed the wind grow cold and bitter.

He checked the coordinates as he stopped and looked around. This should be it. It wasn’t a ravine though. It was an innocuous patch of forest, with a hill to the left and trees all around. Confused, he checked the coordinates again, no, this should be it?

“DREAM!”

Hands wrapped around his frame from the shadows, he hissed and ripped himself away, whirling around in a hunched over position, ready to pounce. 

Instead of an enderman or an assassin or some other dastardly third party. He was met with a familiar face grinning up at him, seemingly unbothered by his animalistic response. 

Dream let himself relax and he smiled onder the mask. Opening his arms out, “Fundy!”

The fox hybrid grinned and quickly accepted the hug, squeezing the blond with all his might and nuzzling into his shoulder. Dream chuckled and patted the others back, and he gingerly stepped away.

“Long time no see Dream, watcha doing here?” Fundy asked with a small smile.

“Visiting some old friends- Oh! Uh… he told me to say that ‘Tubbo sent me’.” 

Fundy blinked, face suddenly going serious. His lips pressed into a thin line and he nodded, backing towards the hill. Confused, Dream followed him. The smaller brushed away some dirt on the side of the hill, revealing a button. Then he pressed it, and the ground began to shake. 

Dream leapt back, staring wide eyed at Fundy. Who smirked back. Then his attention was drawn to the hill as the dirt side started cracking open. Low mechanically groaned filled the air as dirt dissipated from the hillside. Revealing a small cavern, hidden away.

Fundy giggled at him and walked into the small cave, Dream hesitantly followed. Immediately once he entered, the ground shook again, and he looked back to see the dirt hiding the small cavern was back. 

“What the fuck.”

Fundy let out a snort which quickly dissolved into frame-shaking laughter. His laughter was contagious, and soon Dream found himself wheezing along.

Once the two were done, Fundy picked up a torch from the wall and gestured for Dream to follow him, which he gladly did. They started walking down a staircase. It was narrow, and the blond clung to the wall as he watched small bits of dislodged pebbles drop down into the waiting darkness.

They walked for a while before reaching the bottom of the ravine. Which was actually well lit and sort of pretty. While it  _ was _ all stone, he noticed some tasteful bits of stone brick and cobblestone pressed into the walls and floors. 

He then saw four figures in the dim light, each of them seemingly turned to look at him. Fundy stepped forward and so did Dream, squaring his shoulders and bringing himself up to his full height.

Four figures turned into four men.

All of them staring at Dream with cold, calculating looks. It was a terrifyingly intimidating scene.

“Who the fuck is this bitch?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THEY'RE FINALLY HERE!!
> 
> I am VERY excited to write Tommy :D

**Author's Note:**

> Critiques are very much appreciated!!


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